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ARMY LIFE IN WISCONSIN TERRITORY 

i 

THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO 

BY ANDREW JACKSON TURNER 
II 

FORT WINNEBAGO ORDERLY BOOK, 1834-36 

III 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR 

BY ALFRED AUGUSTUS JACKSON 
IV 

AN ENGLISH OFFICER'S DESCRIPTION OF WISCONSIN, IN 1S37 

BY CAPT. FREDERICK MARRYAT, C. B. 



[From Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. XIV] 



MADISON 

State Historical Society of Wisconsin 

1898 



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ARMY LIFE IN WISCONSIN TERRITORY 

i 

THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO 

BY ANDREW JACKSON TURNER 
II 

FORT WINNEBAGO ORDERLY BOOK, 1834-36 

III 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR 

BY ALFRED AUGUSTUS^ JACKSON 
IV 

AN ENGLISH OFFICER'S DESCRIPTION OF WISCONSIN, IN 1837 

BY CAPT. FREDERICK *MARRYAT, C. B. 



[From Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. XIV] 




MADISON 

State Historical Society of Wisconsin 

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l822.] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 65 



THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 



BY ANDREW JACKSON TURNER. 

To the present generation, old Fort Winnebago (at Port- 
age) is a tradition. To the older citizens of our State, 
who recall its whitened walls as they appeared above the 
stockade that inclosed them, and who retain a vivid recol- 
lection of many of its appointments and environments, it 
is a reminiscence; very few there are, now living, who 
dwelt in the fort from its first occupancy, and who had an 
acquaintance with those of its garrison who were subse- 
quently illustrious in military and civil life. Of such, some 
passed their earlier years at the fort in comparative ob- 
scurity, awaiting an opportunity to prove their mettle on 
the sanguinary field of conflict, but these afterward left their 
impress on the pages of history. Some of their names are 
still spoken; others who were here, of equal merit, are 
rarely or never mentioned, for the opportunity came not to 
them. Much that occurred here has been recorded in vari- 
ous public documents, volumes and papers, but nowhere, 
I believe, has it all been arranged in a convenient form. 
So the old fort may be said to have had a history, but no 
historian. It is not my purpose to attempt an exhaustive 
history of the fort; but rather to collate what has already 
been written, but which is so scattered as to involve great 
research on the part of the student who desires to know as 
much as possible of its origin and history. I have incor- 
porated in my account some things not found in any pub- 
lished matter, which I have heard related from the lips of 
those who were there as early as 1830, and who knew its 

5 



66 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. XIV. 

innermost history. Some of it is of a minor character, but 
may possess sufficient local interest to warrant the recital. 

Although the existence of the lead mines in Southwest- 
ern Wisconsin had been known for many years, it was not 
until about 1822 that they attracted general attention, when 
adventurers began coming in and commenced mining opera- 
tions. The Indian title to the lands in that section had 
not yet been extinguished, or was in dispute; and in any 
event the Indians were authorized to remain upon them 
" as long as the lands which are now ceded to the United 
States remain their property." The lands had not been 
brought into market and were not even surveyed. Never- 
theless, " permits " to enter upon the lands claimed by the 
Indians were issued by certain government officials. This 
naturally irritated the savages whose lands had been in- 
vaded. The conduct of the adventurers toward the 
aborigines was frequently coarse and brutal, and disturb- 
ances were the inevitable result. In them we find the in- 
citing causes that led to the establishment of old Fort 
Winnebago — so called because the lead region, as well as 
the Fox-Wisconsin portage, was in the territory of the 
Winnebagoes. 

In 1827, Joseph M. Street, the Indian agent at Prairie du 
Chien, wrote to Governor Edwards of Illinois : " The Winne- 
bagoes complained of the trespass of the miners, and the 
open violation of the treaty by the permits of Mr. Thomas, 
the agent. No notice was taken of it, and the diggings 
progressed. The Indians attempted force, which was 
repelled, and very angry feelings produced. " 

Col. Thomas L. McKenney, an officer in the regular army, 
who was superintendent of the Indian trade, also recorded 
his impressions of the condition of affairs in the lead 
regions, in this language: "The Winnebagoes were in a 
state of great excitement, caused by the intrusions of the 
whites on their lands. They had, after having remonstrated 
for a long time in vain, made up their minds to endure it 
no longer, and had so informed Mr. Courier, the sub-agent. 
A warning was circulated among the miners, who replied: 



1826.] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 67 

• We have a right to go just where we please.' Everything 
appeared threatening. Two thousand persons were said to 
be over the line, as intruders upon lands belonging to the 
Indians. The Indians had fallen back, and sent word to the 
sub-agent that they would see them no more — meaning, as 
friends. This overt act, this trespass upon their grounds, 
was the egg out of which the Black Hawk War was hatched. 
There was no necessity for that war, when, some four years 
after, it did break out. " 

For a time prior to 1826, Fort Crawford, at Prairie du 
Chien, had been occupied by a detachment of United States 
troops. In October of that year they were ordered to Fort 
Snelling. When they left they took with them two Win- 
nebagoes, who had been confined in the guardhouse for 
some supposed offense of a trivial nature. The following 
spring a rumor was in circulation, and generally believed, 
that the two Indians had been turned over to the Chippe- 
was, their enemies, to run the gauntlet through a party 
of the latter tribe, armed with clubs and tomahawks, and 
that the race for life had resulted in the killing of both of 
them. Something like this occurred with reference to some 
Sioux prisoners at Fort Snelling, but the story had no 
truth as applied to the Winnebago captives. The report 
had its origin in the murdering of some Chippewas by a 
party of Sioux. Five of these Sioux were turned over to 
the United States forces at Fort Snelling to be dealt with 
by the Chippewas according to the aboriginal custom, and 
it was determined that they should run the gauntlet: the 
Chippewas being armed with rifles, instead of tomahawks 
and clubs, as stated in Smith's History of Wisconsin and 
some other accounts. The whole affair is graphically de- 
scribed by Mrs. Van Cleve, 1 who was an eye-witness of the 

1 Mrs. Charlotte Ouisconsin Van Cleve was born in Fort Crawford, July 
1, 1819, and is said to have been the first white child born within the 
limits of Wisconsin. She is still living at Minneapolis, Minn. Her book 
of reminiscences, Three Score Years and Ten (Minneapolis, 1895), is an 
interesting publication, ranking with Mrs. Kinzie's Wau-Bun, Folsom's 
Fifty Years in the Northwest, etc. Her description of the Chippewa 
gauntlet, alluded to above, is on pp. 74 et seq. 



68 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. XIV. 

affair, in her little volume, Three Score Years and Ten. All 
of the Sioux were killed before reaching the goal. 

Notwithstanding the falsity of the report, so far as it 
related to the Winnebagoes in confinement, it had its nat- 
ural effect upon the disposition of our Indians, whose only- 
creed is a life for a life; and it should not occasion sur- 
prise that it provoked retaliation and served to increase 
the difficulties which are the inevitable accompaniment of 
an advancing civilization. The whites, on the one hand, 
entertained nothing but contempt for " blanket Indians, " 
strangely misjudged their disposition, and treated them as 
legitimate objects of plunder; the aborigines, on the other, 
sought to protect themselves in the only manner known to 
them, by taking revenge for imaginary or real wrongs, 
often committing excesses and cruelties in keeping with 
their savage nature. 

And so we read at the present day, with horror, of the 
murders of the family of Methode, at Prairie du Chien, in 
1827; of Rigeste Gagnier, and the scalping of his infant 
daughter by a noted Indian chief, Red Bird, and his ac- 
complices of the Winoshic band. Of Red Bird and his sub- 
sequent dramatic surrender and death, I will speak fur- 
ther on. 

As a component part of a general attack upon the whites, 
which doubtless had been planned, the keel-boat " Oliver 
H. Perry," returning from a trip to Fort Snelling with 
provisions for the troops at that station, was attacked by 
a band of Winnebagoes off the mouth of the Bad Ax, and a 
severe battle ensued, with a number of casualties on both 
sides. 

He who reads Reynolds's Life and Times will find other 
explanations for the attack upon this boat, which would 
have justified almost any conduct upon the part of the In- 
dians; but it is not my present purpose to attempt to locate 
the largest measure of blame for what was occurring. The 
idea will suggest itself, however, from the report of Maj.- 
Gen. Alexander Macomb (general -in-chief of the army) to 
the secretary of war the following year, stating that " from 



1828.] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 69 

the restlessness evinced by the Winnebagoes and other 
tribes in the Northwest, partly arising from intrusion upon 
land in the mineral district claimed by them to be within 
their boundaries, by white people, etc.," he had found it 
necessary to establish a new military post at the Fox-Wis- 
consin portage; that due regard was not being given to the 
rights of the real ^owners of the soil, and that the whites 
were not wholly blameless in these matters. However this 
may be, it had become apparent that an increased military 
force was necessary in this section. These occurrences 
have been referred to in historical works as the Winnebago 
" outbreaks," " disturbances," etc., and sometimes they are 
dignified as the Winnebago War. 

Moses M. Strong, in his History of the Territory of Wiscon- 
sin, observes : " It may be thought that the results of this 
war are very meager for the amount of force employed in 
it. If measured by the amount of blood shed after the 
murders at Prairie du Chien and on the keel-boat, the criti- 
cism is very correct. But if it be intended to suggest that 
there was no sufficient reason for apprehending that the 
Winnebagoes contemplated a general uprising against and 
a massacre of the whites, the thought and suggestion are 
the result of great ignorance of the intentions of the Win- 
nebagoes, and of the facts in the case. There is satisfac- 
tory evidence that the Pottawattomies were allied with the 
Winnebagoes, and that they were to fall upon and destroy 
the settlement at Chicago, and it is probable that but for 
the movements resulting from the efforts of General Cass, 
who was fortunately near the seat of war, the whole coun- 
try would have been overrun with a general Indian out- 
break. " 

It may be that this was an exaggerated view of what the 
Indians contemplated ; but it appears clearly that there was 
abundant reason why General Macomb, in his report to the 
secretary of war in November, 1828, should have thought 
it necessary to establish a military post at the portage, 
which opinion was communicated to the secretary in the 



JO WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. XIV. 

following language: "From the restlessness evinced by 
the Winnebagoes and other tribes in the Northwest, partly- 
arising from intrusion upon land in the mineral district 
claimed by them to be within their boundaries, by white 
people in search of lead; and in consequence of a belief en- 
tertained by these tribes, from the smallness of the military 
force in their neighborhood, in comparison with what it 
had been several years before, the government might not 
find it convenient to increase it, and they might therefore 
with impunity resume the depredations which had led to 
the establishment of those posts in the first instance ; there- 
fore it was found necessary to establish a new post at the 
portage between the Fox and Ouisconsin rivers and reoc- 
cupy Chicago. * * * In order to effect these changes, 
the first regiment furnished the garrison of the post at 
the portage of the Ouisconsin and Fox rivers, while it con- 
tinued to occupy fort Crawford, at the Prairie du Chien, 
and fort Snelling, at the junction of the St. Peters with the 
Mississippi. The second regiment, which heretofore oc- 
cupied the posts at the Sault de St. Marie, Green Bay, and 
Mackinac, moved down to occupy the posts of forts Gra- 
tiot and Niagara, the residue of the regiment being at Houl- 
ton Plantations. The fifth regiment, which was stationed 
with the sixth at the school of instruction at Jefferson 
barracks, relieved the second at Green Bay, Sault de St. 
Marie, and Mackinac, besides furnishing two companies 
for the garrison at Chicago. The march of the fifth regi- 
ment by the way of Ouisconsin and Fox rivers must have 
produced an imposing effect on the tribes of Indians through 
whose country it passed ; an effect which was contemplated 
by the movement. It will be seen by the accompanying map 
of the distribution of the troops that there is a complete 
cordon from Green bay to the Mississippi, which must 
have a powerful influence over the Winnebagoes, and af- 
forded protection to the Indian trade which passes in that 
direction; and there is every reason to believe that neither 
the Winnebagoes nor their confederates will attempt any 



1828.] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 7 1 

hostilities so long as the troops maintain their present po- 
sitions. "' 

Executing the order of the secretary of war, the adjutant- 
general of the United States, under the direction of General 
Macomb, issued " Order 44, " under date of August 19, 1828, 
which directed: 

" The three companies of the First regiment of infantry, 
now at Fort Howard, to proceed forthwith under the com- 
mand of Major Twiggs of that regiment to the portage be- 
tween the .Fox and Ouisconsin rivers, there to select a 
position and establish a military post. 

"By command of Maj.-Gen. Macomb. 

"R. Jones, Adjt.-Gen. " 

An additional reason for the establishment of the fort is 
given in the History of Columbia County, not referred to 
in the official reports, which may contain many grains of 
truth: "There was necessity for some means of protec- 
tion to the fur trade from Winnebago exactions ; * * * 
the general government at the solicitation of John Jacob 
Astor, who was then at the head of the American Fur com- 
pany, and upon whose goods the Indians levied exorbitant 
tolls, authorized the erection of a post at portage. " 

1 As supplementary to and confirming General Macomb's report, the fol- 
lowing extract is taken from the annual report of Peter B. Porter, sec- 
retary of war, November 24, 1828: " In the course of the last year the 
Winnebagoes and other Indian tribes living in the neighborhood of the 
posts which had been evacuated — emboldened probably by that circum- 
stance — commenced a series of petty, but savage, warfare on the adjoining 
white population, and rendered it necessary to march a strong military 
force into the country, the effect of which was to quell, for a time at least, 
these disturbances. But in the course of the past spring and summer fresh 
symptoms of discontent and hostility were manifested by the Indians; and 
the people of Illinois, and more particularly the inhabitants of the lead 
mine district, became again so much alarmed as to suggest the necessity, 
not only of permanently garrisoning the former military post of Chicago 
and Prairie du Chien, but of establishing a new one in the center of the 
Winnebago country, for the purpose of watching the movements of the 
Indians, and to serve as a connecting link between the chains of fortifica- 
tions on the Mississippi and on the lakes." See Senate Docs., No. 1, 20th 
Cong., 2d sess., vol. i, pp. 17, 18, 26.— Ed. 



J2 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. XIV. 

It is true that the company had a post there, and it may- 
be that heavy tolls were exacted; it is quite as likely, 
however, that with all the tolls that may have been ex- 
acted, the Indians were getting the worst of it, for it is 
not recorded, as far as I know, that that gigantic monopoly 
ever suffered many losses in their trades with the Indians. 

September 7 following, Maj. David E. Twiggs reported 
his arrival at the fort which was to be established, as fol- 
lows :' 

" Fort Winnebago, September 7, 1828. 

"Sir: I have the honor of reporting my arrival at the 
fort with my command this day. I have selected a posi- 
tion for the fort on the right bank of the Fox river, imme- 
diately opposite the portage. The Indians, I am told, are 
very much dissatisfied with the location of troops here; as 
yet I have not been able to see any of the chiefs, conse- 
quently cannot say with any certainty what their disposi- 
tions are. 

" Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" D. E. Twiggs, 
"Major First Infantry." 

The site selected for the fort was occupied by Francis 
le Roy, but satisfactory terms were made with him for its 
occupancy by the government. Macomb's request to have 
the lands selected for the fort withdrawn from market, 
was made January 10, 1835, and was approved by President 
Jackson, February 9 of the same year. 

Twiggs reported December 29, 1828, what had been done 
in the matter of temporary buildings, for the shelter of his 
command, prior to the construction of the fort buildings 
proper; the report is here given in full: 

" Fort Winnebago, 29 December, 1828. 

" General: I have not received any instructions relative 
to the construction of the permanent garrison at this place. 

1 Morgan L. Martin, in Wis. Mist. Colls., xi, p. 399, speaks of having 
met Maj. Twiggs at Butte des Morts, with three companies of soldiers in 
boats on their way to establish the garrison at Fort Winnebago. Jefferson 
Davis, just graduated at West Point, was one of his lieutenants. 



1828.] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 73 

After completing the temporary buildings I commenced 
procuring materials for the quarters, etc., and soon will 
have square timber enough for two blockhouses. I have 
(and will continue through the winter) six saws, sawing 
flooring, weather boarding and other lumber. We have 
about twenty thousand feet of all kinds, and hope by spring 
to have sufficient to complete the buildings. The sash, 
blinds, etc., will be ready before the end of February. 
There will be wanting three or four yoke of oxen, and as 
many carts, the shingles and lime can better be furnished 
by contract; all the other materials the command can pro- 
cure; all the buildings had better be frame — logs cannot 
be had, and if they could, frame is cheaper and much better; 
all the timber has to be brought from nine to eleven miles, 
but if the carts and oxen are furnished, and the lime and 
shingles got by contract, I can with ease complete the gar- 
rison by next November. I would be pleased to hear from 
you on the subject as soon as convenient. I am, sir, very 
respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"D. E. Twiggs, 
" Major First Infantry. 
" To Gen. A. Atkinson, Commanding ." 

The temporary barracks were constructed of logs obtained 
principally on what is known locally as Pine Island, 
about six-miles west of Portage ; they were probably a little 
east of the fort subsequently erected, and resembled the 
cabins which are always put up in logging camps for the 
use of the men; but nothing more definite concerning them 
is now obtainable. It is presumed that the instructions 
that Twiggs desired were not long delayed, for we know 
that active operations for the erection of the fort were 
soon in progress. 

Lieut. Jefferson Davis, later the chieftain of the Confed- 
eracy, has recorded the fact that he went up the Yellow 
River, a tributary of the Wisconsin, some fifty miles dis- 
tant, and got out the pine logs to be used in the construc- 
tion of the fort, which were rafted down in the spring and 
hauled across the portage with teams and were wrought 



74 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

into proper form with whipsaw, broadax, and adz. 1 Lum- 
bermen still point out the foundations of Davis's dam, which 
was constructed for flooding out his rafts of timber for use 
in building the fort. Another party was detailed to get 
out the needed stone, of which a great quantity was used, 
at Stone Quarry Hill, the place where the most of the stone 
used in Portage for building purposes, has ever since been 
obtained. The bricks were manufactured near the present 
Wisconsin River bridge, at what we know as " Armstrong's 
brickyard. " Lime was burned by another detail at or near 
Paquette's farm on the Bellefontaine, one of the best and 
most widely known farms in the State. 2 

An enormous well was sunk in the very center of the 
square, around which the usual fort buildings were con- 
structed, and it has continued from its never-failing fount- 
ain, to contribute to the comfort of the thirsty pilgrim un- 
til the present day; but a modern windmill now does the 
duty that was formerly so tedious and irksome. So all 
hands were busy. Officers, who in after years became dis- 
tinguished in the war with Mexico, the Florida and other 
Indian wars, and the great conflict involving the perpetuity 
of our Union, planned and wrought with the common soldier 
in bringing into form the fort and the necessary accom- 
panying buildings. Stables, hospitals, bakeries, blacksmith 
shops, commissary buildings, ice-cellars (which were filled 
from Swan Lake), sutlers' stores, magazines, laundries, 
bathhouses, etc., rapidly sprang into existence. Gardens 
were also cleared, and old soldiers have recorded the fact 
that they could not be excelled in the matter of the quan- 
tity and quality of the vegetables produced. A theater was 
erected, and doubtless professional tragedians would have 
hidden their faces in confusion if they could have witnessed 
their own best efforts put to shame. A young lieutenant 
in the regular army, far removed from the confines of civil- 
ization, with the officers' wives and their guests, all cult- 

1 Jefferson Davis — a Memoir, by his Wife (N. Y., 1890), vol. i, pp. 80- 
82. See also, Wis. Hist. Colls., viii, p. 310.— Ed. 

2 See Wis. Hist. Colls., xii, p. 402.— Ed. 



1829.] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 75 

ured ladies, for an audience, would undoubtedly do his best 
when Macbeth or some other equally hair-lifting tragedy was 
on the boards, in the full glare of the pitch-pine fagots 
blazing from the fireplace in the rear, and shedding their 
effulgent rays over the brilliant assemblage. 

While all this was going on, regular military duty was 
not neglected, and drills and parades were indulged in of 
course; the stars and stripes were regularly given to 
the breeze at the roll of the drum at guard mounting, and 
lowered with the same accompaniment at retreat; morning 
and evening guns were sounded, the reveille called the 
soldiers to duty in the gray light of the morning, and " taps " 
sent them to retirement in the blue twilight of the evening. 

In the regular course of military movements, some of the 
companies first doing duty here were transferred to differ- 
ent posts, and their places were taken by others ; and so it 
happened that many whose names were enrolled on the 
scroll of fame in after years, were initiated into the science 
of war at Fort Winnebago. Perhaps the most prominent 
of them all was Lieut. Jefferson Davis, then subaltern of 
Capt. William S. Harney. To his honor, be it said, his 
services at Fort Winnebago were highly creditable. I have 
heard it remarked by those who knew him here, that he 
had no liking for the amusements to which officers, as well 
as private soldiers, resort to relieve the tedium of camp 
life; but that he was ever engaged, when not in active 
service, in some commendable occupation. His services in 
the lumber camps on the Yellow River, and his successful 
mission in bringing down fleets of lumber through the Dells 
of the Wisconsin, attest to his faithfulness as a soldier. 

Next to Lieutenant Davis, should be mentioned Maj. 
David E. Twiggs, of the First Infantry, under whose im- 
mediate superintendence the fort was constructed, as 
already stated. Subsequently, Twiggs distinguished himself 
at the battle of Monterey, in the Mexican War. He was 
dismissed from the federal service in February, 1861, for 
surrendering the United States stores in Texas, before that 
State had seceded, and was a Confederate general for a time. 



76 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv.. 

One of Twiggs's lieutenants here, was Captain Harney, 
who was brevetted a colonel for meritorious conduct in 
several engagements with hostile Indians in Florida, and 
became famous as an Indian fighter; he was also brevetted 
a brigadier-general for gallant service in the battle of 
Cerro Gordo. He retired from active service in 1863, and 
in 1865 was brevetted a major-general for long and faithful 
service. 

Col. William J. Worth — whose gallant services in the 
War of 1812, and who in the Mexican War disclosed abili- 
ties as a soldier which brought him into the public mind 
as a proper candidate for the presidency — was stationed 
here for a time. 

Capt. E. V. Sumner, who became so renowned for his 
famous cavalry charge at the battle of Cerro Gordo, in 
which he was wounded, and who subsequently distinguished 
himself at Contreras, Churubusco, and Molino del Rey, in 
Mexico, was also here. Captain Sumner led an expedition 
against the Cheyenne Indians in Kansas; he commanded 
the left wing of the federal army at the siege of York- 
town; was in all of the battles of the Peninsula, and was 
twice wounded; was again wounded at Antietam, and at 
the battle of Fredericksburg commanded the right grand 
division of the army. He was one of old Fort Winnebago's 
brightest jewels. 

Lieut. Horatio Phillips Van Cleve went to the front 
early in the War of Secession as colonel of the Second 
Minnesota, and achieved distinction, retiring with the rank 
of major-general; he was one of the finest graduates of 
the old fort. At the battle of Stone River, Van Cleve was 
in command of a subdivision of the Army of the Ohio, and 
was severely wounded. Greeley's History of the American 
Conflict erroneously records him as killed. He recovered 
from his wounds, and served with distinction until the close 
of the war. Van Cleve married Charlotte Ouisconsin Clark, 
daughter of Maj. Nathan Clark, at Fort Winnebago in 1836, 
this lady having been born at Fort Crawford (Prairie du 
Chien) in 1819, said to be the first woman of pure white 





3 2 

— t 
pa ~ 

%% 





> o 







l837~40-] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. JJ 

blood born within the present limits of Wisconsin. Her 
father, the major, died at Fort Winnebago and was buried 
in the old military cemetery, but his remains were subse- 
quently removed to Cincinnati. 

Lieut. Randolph B. Marcy was on duty at Fort Winne- 
bago in 1837-40; captain in 1846, and in active service dur- 
ing the Mexican War, later being on frontier duty for many 
years. During the War of Secession, he was chief -of-staff 
under his son-in-law, Gen. George B. McClellan, in 1861-62, 
attaining the rank of inspector-general and brevet briga- 
dier-general. General Marcy was the author of several vol- 
umes descriptive of frontier life and service. 1 

Lieut. Nathan B. Rossell joined (1839) the Fifth Infantry 
at Fort Winnebago, his first post. He was with bis regi- 
ment in the Mexican War, being severely wounded at Mo- 
lino del Rey. He was brevetted for distinguished services 
and was presented by his native state, New Jersey, with a 
gold sword. He was in command at Fort Albuquerque, 
N. Mex., when the War of Secession broke out. He was 
ordered into active service, being killed while in command 
of the Third Infantry, at Gaines's Mill. 

Lieut. Edward Kirby Smith, the dashing Confederate gen- 
eral who kept the Union forces so busy in the Southwest dur- 
ing the Rebellion, was also at the Fox- Wisconsin portage even 
prior to the establishment of the fort. A stray manuscript 
leaf from some of the army records left at the fort when it 
was evacuated, and now in possession of one of the citizens 
of Portage, contains the proceedings of a court-martial 
whereat the brevet lieutenant was tried for insubordina- 
tion, being charged with having " refused to take orders 
from any d — d militia captain. " 

Dr. Lyman Foot, eminent as a surgeon and physician, — 
who spent much of his early manhood at various military 
posts on the frontier, and who was greatly esteemed for his 

1 Exploration of the Bed River of Louisiana in 1852 (Washington, 
1854); The Prairie Traveler, a Handbook for Overland Emigrants 
(New York, 1859); Thirty Years of Army Life on the Border (1866); 
Border Beminiscenccs (New York, 1872). — Ed. 



78 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

social qualities and prof essional attainments, — was long re- 
membered by early citizens of Portage. 

Lieut. John Pegram, who became a distinguished Con- 
federate general, and lost his life in one of the engagements 
near Petersburg; Lieut. John T. Collinsworth, who resigned 
in 1836 and became inspector-general of the republic of 
Texas, dying in 1837 at the age of 28; Col. James S. Mc- 
intosh, who was mortally wounded at the battle of Molino 
del Rey, in Mexico, in 1846; Lieut. John J. Abercrombie, 
who commanded the Union forces at the battle of Palling 
Waters, one of the first engagements in the late war ; Lieut. 
Alexander S. Hooe, who greatly distinguished himself at 
the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, in the lat- 
ter of which he lost an arm; Lieut. Pinkney Lugenbeel, 
who was brevetted for gallant and meritorious conduct in 
the battles of Contreras, Churubusco and Chapultepec in the 
Mexican War, and served in the Army of the Potomac; 
Lieuts. Ferdinand S. Mumford and Samuel B. Hayman, who 
acquired honorable distinction in the War of Secession, 
and undoubtedly others of merit whose names do not occur 
to me, were here. 

Little did these young officers, as they gathered around 
the festive board and sang: 1 

In the army there's sobriety, 
Promotion's very slow, 

We'll sigh o'er reminiscences of Benny Havens, O! 

Old Benny Havens, O! Old Benny Havens, O! 

We'll sigh o'er reminiscences of Benny Havens, O! 

do more than dream of the promotion which was soon to 
be theirs; but the war with Mexico was near at hand, and 
promotion came to them very rapidly. 

Among the earliest to arrive at the fort was Capt. Gideon 
Low, who came here with his command from Green Bay in 

'"Benny Havens" was an army melody, very popular at our frontier 
posts sixty years ago. See " Grant's Appointment to West Point," Mc- 
Clure's Magazine, January, 1897. " Benny Havens " was one of the 
institutions at West Point — a little tavern and bar on the riverbank, just 
outside of the reservation. It was considered very wild to slip down to 
Benny's and smoke a cigar and drink a glass of gin. 



1 84O-4I -J THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 79 

1831. In the Black Hawk War, Capt. Low was ordered to 
Fort Atkinson; and after the danger was over there he 
returned to Fort Winnebago, where he remained on duty 
until 1840, when he resigned. Prior to his resignation he 
built the Franklin House, in 1838, which became so famous 
as a hostelry in the early days of Portage. Capt. Low 
died at the agency in 1850, and was buried in the cemetery 
at the fort; but subsequently his remains were removed to 
the burial lot of his son-in-law, Henry Merrell, in Silver 
Lake Cemetery. 

Some of those who were not in the service directly, but 
who were at the fort in various capacities, and who after- 
ward became prominent in public affairs, should be men- 
tioned, as a history of Fort Winnebago would not be com- 
plete without recalling them. 

The distinguished Hungarian political refugee, Count 
Agostin Haraszthy, was at the fort and had a contract with 
the government for supplying the garrison with fuel, his 
headquarters beiug on one of the " islands " in the marsh a 
few miles north of the fort. After leaving here he founded 
the village of Haraszthy, now called Sauk City, and sub- 
sequently remove<| to California, where he was a man of 
much prominence in public affairs, being a member of the 
legislature of that State. Later he directed his energies 
to affairs in Central America and lost his life there while 
crossing a lagoon, being drowned, or possibly pulled under 
by an alligator. 1 

1 Col. (or Count) Agostin Haraszthy was born in 1812, in the comitat of 
Bacska, Hungary, his family having been prominent in Hungarian annals 
for upwards of 700 years. Educated in the law, he was, at the age of 18, a 
member of Emperor Ferdinand's body guard (of nobles), later being chief 
executive officer of his (Haraszthy 's) district, and then private secretary of 
the Hungarian viceroy. Upon the failure of the liberal movement of 1839- 
40, in which he was engaged, he was compelled to fly to the United States. 
After extensive travels over our country, he wrote a book (in Hungarian) 
intended to encourage his fellow countrymen to emigrate to America. In 
1840-41 he settled in Wisconsin, near Portage, as related by Mr. Turner in 
the above text; here he had a large tract of jland, which he improved at 
much cost, making necessary roads and ferries. Gaining permission to re- 



80 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. XIV. 

Of those who were at the Fox-Wisconsin portage in early- 
times, years before the fort had an existence, was Pierre 
Paquette. He was born at St. Louis in 1796, and married 
Therese Crelie, daughter of the noted Joseph Crelie. 2 His 
early manhood was spent among the Indians in the Far 
West, in the fur trade. Subsequently he became the agent 
of the American Fur Company at the portage, and was the 
agent of Joseph Rolette in the transportation business. 
He was slain by an Indian named Mauzamoneka (or Iron 

turn temporarily to Hungary, to surrender certain important State papers 
to that government, he succeeded in saving §150,000 from his confiscated 
estates, together with a considerable amount of family plate and paintings. 
With this fortune, he returned to Wisconsin (1842-43), and founded what 
is now Sauk City, where he planted the first hop-yard in our State, and 
encouraged others to do likewise; he was highly successful with this crop. 
He became the head of an emigrant association which brought to Wiscon- 
sin large and successful colonies of English, German, and Swiss. In 1848, 
he made considerable contributions of arms, supplies, and money to his 
revolutionary compatriots in Hungary. The following year (1849) he re- 
moved to California, being elected sheriff of San Diego county. He was 
for many years a prominent citizen of that State, holding important State 
and national offices. He is called the Father of Viniculture in California, 
and published much on that subject — in 1861 being appointed by the gov- 
ernor as special commissioner to visit European vineyards and report 
thereon; the result of his report was the introduction of 400 distinct varie- 
ties of grapes into the Golden State. In 1868, he went to Nicaragua, 
where, at the head of a company of friends, he obtained valuable privileges 
for the manufacture of wines and spirits, sugar, and lumber — acquiring 
100,000 acres of some of the best land in Central America. It was upon 
his plantation, the Hacienda San Antonio, near the port of Corinto, that 
he met his death (July 6, 1870), as stated above by Mr. Turner. 

When Haraszthy returned to America in 1842-43, he was accompanied 
by his mother, who died at Grand Gulf, Miss., 1844-45; and his father 
(Charles), who, at the age of 80, was buried at sea on his return to San 
Francisco from Corinto (July 22, 1870). Colonel Haraszthy's wife (nee 
Eleonora Dodinsky) died at Leon, Nicaragua, July 15, 1869; his son, Col. 
Gaza Haraszthy, died on the family plantation in Nicaragua, December 
17, 1878, aged 45; his sons Attila F. and Arpad were born in Hungary and 
now (1898) live in California; another surviving son (Beba) was born in 
Sauk City, Wis.; of his two daughters, Ida was born in Peoria, 111., and 
Otelia in Madison, Wis. — Ed. 

1 For accounts of Crelie, see Wis. Hist. Colls., iii, vii, viii, ix. — Ed. 



1836.] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 8 1 

Walker), in 1836, with, whom he had had some trouble, at a 
spot near the present site of the Catholic church in Portage. 
He was one of the best known men in the West, and his 
tragic death produced a sensation equal to what might 
be experienced if the most distinguished man in Wisconsin 
to-day should be assassinated; for he was a famous man in 
many ways, and was held in the highest esteem by both 
whites and Indians. For years after his death he was 
the most talked-about man in this section. At the time of 
his death he was living across the river, where Judge Bar- 
den now resides, and some of the latter 's farm buildings 
were erected by Paquette. His daughter, Therese, who is 
still living, and a resident of Caledonia, speaks of frequent 
visits to her father's place by Lieutenant Jefferson Davis 
and Captain Gideon Low. 

Satterlee Clark in writing of him says: "He was the 
very best specimen of a man I ever saw. He was 6 feet 
2 inches in height and weighed 200 pounds, hardly ever 
varying a single pound. He was a very handsome man, 
hospitable, generous and kind, and I think I never saw a 
better natured man. " ' 

Henry Merrell said of him : " He was a man of mild dis- 
position, could neither read nor write, but had as true a 
sense of honor as any gentleman I ever knew, and all who 
knew him would take his word as soon as any man's bond. " 2 
Most fabulous stories were often related of his remarkable 
strength. 

Paquette was buried under the old log church which 
stood in about the center of what is now Adams street, near 
its junction with Conant street. The church was burned 
about 1840, and his resting place was marked by a picket 
enclosure, after which his remains were removed to the 
lot in the rear of the present Baptist church, and were 
buried under the entrance to the " L " in the rear of it ; 3 

1 Wis. Hist. Colls., viii, p.316.— Ed. 

2 Wis. Hist. Colls., vii, p. 383.— Ed. 

3 The church spoken of was the first church in Central Wisconsin, and 
was built by Paquette for a Dominican priest, Rev. Samuel Mazzuchelli, 

6 



82 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

Another noted character hereabouts was Jean Baptiste 
Du Bay, whose trading post was on the hill opposite the 
fort and just east of the Indian Agency, having succeeded 
to the interest of Paquette, after the latter's death. He 
killed William S. Reynolds on the premises in 1857, during 
a land-title dispute, an event that attracted great interest at 
the time and which ever after clouded an otherwise honor- 
able career. 1 

Henry Merrell was at the fort also ; he was a sutler there 
in 1834, and afterwards became the agent of the Amer- 
ican Fur Company, filling many positions of honor and 
trust; he was the first senator from this district when the 
State was organized, and his descendants have converted 
the site of the old military fort from its warlike appear- 
ance to the more peaceful one of a well-appointed farm. 2 

So also Satterlee Clark, who was appointed a sutler by 
President Jackson in 1830; but being a minor he was unable 
to take charge of the position in his own name, and it was 
farmed out to Oliver Newbury of Detroit, Clark becoming his 
clerk. He devoted the most of his time, however, to the 
Indian trade. Clark was for many years a senator from 
Dodge county. He was an admirer of Jefferson Davis, and 
never suffered an opportunity to pass to sound his praises, 
even during the most exciting days of the War of Secession. 
So conspicuous was this habit, that he often found himself 
in controversy with others who were not in sympathy with 
him. On one occasion, when it fell to me to introduce 
him to a public assemblage in Portage, to lecture on early 
times at the fort, I remarked in a spirit of pleasantry: 
" Our friend who will address you to-night was a compan- 
ion of Lieutenant Davis at the fort, and it is now impos- 

who came here occasionally to hold services among the Indians and half- 
breeds, and who in time became distinguished in his order, having founded 
Saint Clara Academy at Sinsinawa Mound, in Grant county. — A. J. T. 

Cf. Moses Paquette's reference to the church built by Pierre Paquette, 
Wis. Hist. Colls., x'ii, pp. 432, 433.— Ed. 

1 Wis. Hist. Colls., vii, pp. 400-402.— Ed. 

2 See Merrell's "Pioneer Life in Wisconsin," Wis. Hist. Colls., vii,. 
pp. 366-402 —Ed. „ 



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183O.] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 83 

sible to say whether ' Sat ' imbibed his secession ideas 
from 'Jeff,' or whether 'Jeff' obtained his from 'Sat,'" 
all of which was received by Clark with his accus- 
tomed good-nature. With all of his peculiarities, and often 
extravagant expressions of speech, he was a most com- 
panionable man, and a true courtier to ladies, who admired 
him. 1 Clark was married at the old Indian Agency house 
on the hill just opposite the fort, and still standing, to a 
daughter of Mr. Jones, the sutler. And here it should 
be stated that this house was built for John H. Kinzie, the 
sub-Indian agent, who was a son of John Kinzie, whose 
name occupies so prominent a page in the early history of 
Chicago, he being a post-trader at Fort Dearborn at the 
time of the massacre of the garrison by the Indians in 1812. 2 

'See his "Early Times at Fort Winnebago," Wis. Hist. Colls., viii, 
pp. 309-321.— Ed. 

2 Mrs. JohnH. Kinzie was the author of that entertaining volume of rem- 
iniscences of life at frontier posts, Wau-Bun. From this book (ch. viii), 
I transcribe her account of her arrival at Fort Winnebago in 1830, in 
company with her husband, who was to have charge of the Indian Agency. 
Mrs. Twiggs was the only woman who had preceded her to the fort. After 
describing the approach to the fort in a canoe, by the tortuous windings of 
the Fox, Mrs. Kinzie writes: 

" Maj. and Mrs. Twiggs and a few of the younger officers (for nearly all 
the older ones were absent), with our brother Robert, or as he is called 
throughout all the Indian tribes, ' Bob,' gave us a cordial welcome — how 
cordial those alone can know who have come, like us, to a remote isolated 
home in the wilderness. The major insisted on our taking possession at 
once of vacant quarters in the fort instead of the agency, as had been pro- 
posed. No, we must be under the same roof with them. Mrs. Twiggs had 
been without a companion of her own sex for more than four months, and 
would certainly not hear of a separation now. But we must be their guests 
until the arrival of the boats containing our furniture, which, under the 
care of our old acquaintance, Hamilton Arndt, was making its way slowly 
up from Green Bay. A dinner had been prepared for us. This is one of 
the advantages of the zig-zag approach by the Fox river — traders never 
take their friends by surprise; and when the whole circle sat down to the 
hospitable board we were indeed a merry company. After dinner, Mrs. 
Twiggs showed me the quarters assigned to us on the opposite side of the 
hall. They consisted of two large rooms on each side of the building. On 
the ground floor the front room was vacant. The one in the rear was to 



84 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

John H. Kinzie died on a Port Wayne Railway train Jan- 
uary 28, 1865, of heart disease. 

When the Kinzies arrived at the fort, they found the 
Winnebagoes assembled there in anticipation of the arrival 
of Shawneeawkee (the Indian name for the agent), who was 
to pay them their annuities. " The woods were now brill- 
iant with many tints of autumn, " Mrs. Kinzie wrote, " and 
the scene around us was further enlivened by groups of In- 
dians in all directions, and their lodges which were scat- 
tered here and there in the vicinity of the Agency build- 
ings. On the low grounds might be seen the white tents 
of the traders, already prepared to send out winter supplies 
to the Indians, in exchange for the annuity money they 
were about to receive. 

"Preparatory to this event, the great chief of the Win- 
nebago nation, ' Four Legs ' (Hootschope), whose village 
was on Doty's Island at the foot of Lake Winnebago, had 

be the sleeping apartment, as was evident from a huge, unwieldy bedstead 
of proportions amply sufficient to have accommodated Og, the King of 
Bashan, with Mrs. Og and the children into the bargain. This edifice had 
been built under the immediate superintendence of one of our young lieu- 
tenants [Jefferson Davis] and it was plain to be seen that both he and the 
soldiers who fabricated it had exhausted all their architectural skill. The 
timber of which it was composed had been grooved and carved, the pillars 
that supported the front swelled in and out in a most fanciful manner; the 
doors were not only paneled, but radiated in a way to excite the admira- 
tion of all unsophisticated eyes. A similar piece of workmanship had been 
erected in each set of quarters, to supply the deficiency of closets, an in- 
convenience which had never occurred, until too late, to the bachelors who 
planned them. The three apartments of which each structure was composed 
were unquestionably designed for clothes-press, storeroom, and china closet; 
such at least were the uses to which Mrs. Twiggs had appropriated the 
one assigned to her. There was this slight difficulty, that in the latter the 
shelves were too close to admit setting in even a gravyboat, but they made 
up in number what was wanting in space. We christened the whole affair 
in honor of its projector, a 'Davis,' thus placing the first laurel on the 
brow of one who was afterward to signalize himself in cabinet making of 
quite a different character." 

It will be remembered that Davis himself was a member of President 
Pierce's cabinet, and that he constructed an entire one on his own account 
as president of the Confederate States. 



183O.] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 85 

thought proper to take a little carouse, as is too apt to be 
the custom when the savages come into the neighborhood 
of a sutler's establishment. In the present instance, the 
facilities for a season of intoxication had been augmented 
by the presence on the ground of some traders, too regard- 
less of the very stringent laws prohibiting the sale of 
liquor to Indians. 

"Poor Four Legs could not stand this full tide of pros- 
perity. Unchecked by the presence of his father, the agent, 
he carried his indulgence to such excess that he fell a vic- 
tim in the course of a few days. His funeral had been 
celebrated with unusual pomp the day before our arrival, 
and great was my disappointment at finding myself too 
late to witness all the ceremonies. 

" His body, according to their custom, having been 
wrapped in a blanket and placed in a rude coffin along 
with his guns, tomahawk, pipes, and a quantity of tobacco, 
had been carried to the most elevated point of the hill 
opposite the fort, followed by an immense procession of 
his people, whooping, beating their drums, howling and 
making altogether what is emphatically termed a 'pow- 
wow.' 

"After the interment of his body a stake was planted at 
his head, on which was painted in vermillion a series of 
hieroglyphics, descriptive of the great deeds and events 
of his life. The whole was then surrounded with pickets 
of the trunks of the tamarack trees, and thither the friends 
would come for many successive days to renew the ex- 
pression of their grief, and to throw over the grave to- 
bacco and other offerings to the Great Spirit." 

We might imagine that the bones of the great Four Legs 
repose there still, a little in the rear of the Agency build- 
ing; but they probably do not, for the graves of the 
Indians were usually very shallow, and the tiller of the 
soil, as he " drove his team a-field, " would often turn their 
bones to the surface to be whitened in the sun; and it 
became in after years quite fashionable for white men to 
desecrate the Indian graves in pursuit of relics. Frequently 



86 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

no other covering than a roof of slabs, in the form of a 
A was given to them. The removal of a board would en- 
able one to see the old Indian chief Choukeka or " Spoon 
Dekorra " sitting upright, with all of his funeral trappings 
surrounding him. 1 On one occasion, when two of our towns- 
men, prompted by the spirit of an overweening curiosity, 
made an inspection of Dekorra's rude mausoleum, to see 
how the old fellow was getting on, a rabbit was observed 
keeping vigil with the spirit of the old chieftain. 

Continuing her narrative of events occurring at the fort 
immediately after their arrival, Mrs. Kinzie relates the 
" calls " they received from the principal chiefs, who had 
put on their best blankets, gaudiest feathers, and paint to 
receive their new " mother. " 

There was Nawkaw or Carry maunee (The Walking 
Turtle), who, the principal chief of his tribe, was beside 
Tecumseh when he fell at the battle of the Thames, and 
old "Daykauray," — Schchipkaka (White War Eagle), as 
Mrs. Kinzie spells it, but which is always written, locally, 
" Dekorra. " 2 

Mrs. Kinzie spoke of her caller as " the most noble, dig- 
nified and venerable of his own, or indeed of any tribe. 
His fine Roman countenance, rendered still more striking 
by his bald head, with one solitary tuft of long silvery hair 
neatly tied and falling back on his shoulders; his perfectly 

1 Not to be confounded with the Spoon Decorah of the next generation, 
whose narrative is given in Wis. Hist. Colls, xiii, pp. 448-462. — Ed. 

2 The correct orthography undoubtedly is De Carrie, like that of his 
father the old chief, who was the reputed grandson of Sebrevoir De Carrie, 
an officer in the French army, who, after resigning his commission in 1729, 
became an Indian trader among the Winnebagoes, subsequently taking 
for his wife the head chief's sister, Morning Glory, spoken of as a most 
remarkable woman. De Carrie returned to the army and was mortally 
wounded at Quebec, April 28, 1760, and died of his wounds in a hospital 
at Montreal. Whether this genealogical tree has been correctly established 
or not, I will not undertake to determine. It is vouched for in Augustin 
Grignon's Recollections ( Wis. Hist. Colls., iii), and by John T. de la 
Eonde (Id., vii), who was something of an expert in Indian genealogy; and 
so let it be accepted as a fact. There certainly are some corroborating 
and extenuating circumstances to sustain it. 



183O.] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 87 

neat, appropriate dress, almost without ornament, and his 
courteous demeanor, never laid aside under any circum- 
stances, all combining to give him the highest place in the 
consideration of all who knew him. It will hereafter be 
seen, " Mrs. Kinzie adds, " that his traits of character were 
not less grand and striking than were his personal appear- 
ance and deportment." 

Mrs. Kinzie probably had in mind, when she penned 
the following paragraph, the time when the Indians were 
reduced to dire extremities for food. The game had been 
driven off by the troops and war parties the preceding sum- 
mer, and soup made of slippery elm and stewed acorns was 
the only food that many of them had subsisted upon for 
weeks. Their condition was wretched in the extreme, and 
could only be relieved by the arrival of the stores that 
were expected to come up Fox River by the boat. While 
this condition of affairs existed, Mrs. Kinzie wrote: "The 
noble old De-kau-ry came one day from the Barribault 
[Baraboo] to apprise us of the state in his village. More 
than forty of his people he said had now been for many 
days without food, save bark and roots. My husband ac- 
companied him to the commanding officer to tell his story 
and ascertain if any amount of food could be obtained from 
that quarter. The result was the promise of a small allow- 
ance of flour, sufficient to alleviate the cravings of his own 
family. When this was explained to the chief, he turned 
away. ' No, ' he said, ' if my people could not be relieved, 
I and my family will starve with them. ' And he refused, 
for those nearest and dearest to him, the proffered succor, 
until all could share alike. When at last the boat arrived, 
the scene of exultation that followed was a memorable 
one. The bulky ' Wild Cat, ' now greatly reduced in flesh 
from his long fasting, seized the aristocratic ' Washington 
Woman,' Madame Thunder, and hugged and danced with 
her in exuberance of their joy." 

The old chief died in 1836, at what is known locally as 
Caffrey's Place, at the foot of the bluff in Caledonia, and 
was buried in Portage just in the rear of the old log Cath- 



88 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. XIV. 

olic church, nearly opposite J. E. Wells's residence, accord- 
ing to John T. de la Ronde; but Moses Paquette, in the 
Wisconsin Historical Collections (vol. xiii), states that his 
death occurred at the Pete en-Well on the Wisconsin River. 
When the order was made to remove the bodies of all per- 
sons buried there,' Dekaury's remains were bundled into 
some boxes promiscuously with others, and they now rest 
in the Catholic cemetery. 

Among the Kinzies' other callers were Black Wolf, Talk 
English, Little Elk, Wild Cat, White Crow, and Dandy,— a 
nephew of Four Legs, but not the Dandy known to so many 
of the housewives of Portage, who was omnipresent 
when pressed with hunger. His pretensions to noble lin- 
eage were distinctly repudiated by Yellow Thunder, who re- 
garded his ancestry as tainted with uncertainty. Each of 
these distinguished callers could point to some special 
deed or traits of character that elevated him above the 
common herd, who could not point to so many scalps on 
their belts, or exhibit other evidences of prowess and 
greatness. 

Among other callers, a little later, was the esteemed Mme. 
Yellow Thunder, who had been to Washington with Mr. 
Thunder, and was known by the other Indians as the "Wash- 
ington Woman. " Yellow Thunder had a reputation not a 
whit less honorable than Dekorra's. The good deeds re- 
lated of him would fill a volume. His remains repose un- 
disturbed on the west bank of Wisconsin River, a few miles 
below Kilbourn, where he lived and died, emulating, as 
well as he could, the virtues of his pale-faced brethren and 
eschewing their vices. At one time the government at 
Washington decided to remove him, with the rest of the 
tribe, to the Winnebago reservation near Omaha, and they 
did ; but the old fellow got back even before the guard who 
escorted them thither, for he had decided to live in Wis- 
consin. 1 He purchased a farm and became a tiller of the 
soil, swore allegiance to the government to which he had 
no occasion to feel grateful, and died at a great age in 1874. 

'See Wis. Hist. Colls., xii, pp. 407 etseq. — Ed. 






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1832.] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 89 

The soldiers, apart from their garrison duties, were de- 
tailed to road-making. The old military highway between 
Fort Crawford (at Prairie du Chien) and Fort Howard 
(at Green Bay) was constructed wholly by them, and is 
still in use. Between times, some of the officers found 
time to go on the chase for deer in the neighboring forest. 
An old Indian named Dixon, whose erect form is still 
frequently seen on Portage streets, loves to tell how he 
used to paddle a canoe on Swan Lake and in the rice fields 
for " two good officers " (meaning soldiers of rank) to shoot 
ducks. He does not remember their names, but one of 
them had an unusually red head, he assures you, and 
was always successful in his ducking expeditions. This 
was probably Lieut. Carter L. Stevenson, who enjoyed 
the distinction of having a very bright capillary adornment. 

So, while old Fort Winnebago's history has not been dis- 
tinguished by attacks, or massacres, or other stirring 
scenes, it has not been wholly uneventful. 

During the Black Hawk War, which followed the sup- 
pression of the Winnebago outbreak, the garrison at the 
fort was assigned to more active duty. A portion of it 
was sent to Fort Atkinson to strengthen that post, under 
command of Captain Low. What remained was so meager 
as to invite an attack from the Winnebagoes, of whose 
good intentions the inmates were not well assured. The 
approach of Black Hawk, in 1832, was heralded, and con- 
sternation prevailed. Satterlee Clark, in his reminiscences, 
states: "In the meantime Black Hawk, learning from the 
Winnebagoes, who also promised to assist him, that only 
thirty men remained in Fort Winnebago, determined to 
burn it and massacre its inmates. They accordingly came 
and camped on the Fox river about four miles above Swan 
Lake, and about eight miles from the fort. " Clark probably 
me?nt Winnebagoes instead of Sacs, as some have inferred 
from his statement; for Black Hawk did not reach Colum- 
bia county. He detoured to the south with his braves, 
and was attacked and put to flight at what is known as the 
battle of Wisconsin Heights, in the town of Roxbury, in 



QO WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol.XlV. 

Dane county, a short distance south of the town of West 
Point. Some amusing episodes occurred while the attack 
was in expectancy, but no serious catastrophe resulted. 

Mrs. Van Cleve, in writing 1 of her marriage and other 
occurrences at the fort, has recorded this incident: "Dur- 
ing the following summer [1836] a detachment of troops in 
command of Col. Zachary Taylor, accompanied by General 
Brady, came up to Fort Winnebago in consequence of an 
Indian scare, which was entirely imaginary, and camped 
on the prairie, just outside the fort. Their coming was a 
very pleasant event, and the more so because there was 
not, and never had been, any danger from the Indians, who 
were very peaceable neighbors. But we enjoyed the visit 
exceedingly, and the officers were frequently entertained at 
our quarters, at their meals. Very opportunely for us, the 
strawberries were abundant, and the flowers, which were 
beautiful and fresh every morning, were more lovely as 
ornaments than elegant plate of silver or gold. " 

At the conclusion of the Black Hawk War, in 1832, a 
treaty stipulation was entered into for the cession of all 
the Indian lands south and east of the Fox and Wisconsin 
rivers. One of the stipulations of the treaty was the sur- 
render of certain individuals of their tribe, accused of 
having participated with the Sacs in some murders. The 
men were surrendered, according to agreement, and were 
confined in the "black-hole," as it was called, being an 
enormous dungeon under one of the fort buildings, to await 
trial. Although careful supervision was exercised, the 
Indians proceeded to plan their escape, and in about six 
weeks they had tunneled their way out under the walls in 
almost the precise manner that a number of Union officers 
made their escape from Libby prison thirty years later. 
That they might be as little encumbered as possible in their 
flight, they left their blankets behind them ; and although 
it was bitter December weather, they took to the woods 
and prairies with only their calico shirts and leggins for 



1 In her Three Score Years and Ten. — Ed. 



!833-] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. gi 

covering. The question among the officers of the fort 
was, how to get the fugitives back. Kinzie, the agent, 
could promise no more than that he would communicate 
with the chiefs and represent the wishes of the officers 
that the prisoners should once more surrender themselves, 
and thus free those who had the charge of them from the 
imputation of carelessness, which the government would be 
very likely to throw upon them. When, therefore, accord- 
ing to their custom, the Winnebago chiefs assembled at 
the agency on New Year's day, 1833, the agent laid the 
subject before them. The Indians replied that if they saw 
the young men they would tell them what the officers 
would like to have them do. They could themselves do 
nothing in the matter. They had fulfilled their engage- 
ment by bringing them once, and putting them in the hands 
of the officers. The government had had them in its power 
once, and could not keep them; it must now go and catch 
them. 

The social amenities of life were not neglected in the 
least degree by the few ladies who gave grace by their re- 
fining presence to fort life. Calls were made and returned 
then as now, and a lady took her position in a canoe to 
make or return a call on an acquaintance, — at Fort Craw- 
ford down the Wisconsin, 118 miles distant, or down the 
Fox to Fort Howard, about 175 miles away, — with less ado 
and trouble in arranging her toilet for the occasion, than 
is sometimes experienced by our ladies of to-day in making 
a party call across the street. I have frequently heard a 
gentleman who was accustomed to escort ladies on such 
occasions, and paddle the canoe, and who made his bridal 
tour in that manner from the old Agency house to Green 
Bay, speak of the rare delight of these trips in a birchen 
canoe. 

The venerable W. W. Haskin, who is spending the even- 
ing of his life at Pardeeville, — one of the very few surviv- 
ors of those who were at the fort when it was garrisoned, — 
reverts with evident pleasure to an occasion when he chap- 
eroned some ladies at the fort on some of their horseback 



92 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv«. 

gallopings in the oak openings about Stone Quarry Hill ; 
and Mrs. Kinzie, a delicate young lady, and a stranger to 
life beyond the frontier, has told us most entertainingly in 
her Wau-Bun, of her trips to Green Bay by boat, and of her 
gallops to and from Chicago, sometimes in mid- winter, fol- 
lowing bridle paths through the forest, fording swollen 
streams (for of bridges there were none), riding across 
treacherous marshes and through swamps, braving storms 
and inclement weather, partaking of Indian diet in their 
lodges at times, and subsisting as best she might, and re- 
membering it all as a pleasant part of life. 

Miss Marcy, daughter of Lieutenant Marcy (she later 
became the wife of Gen. George B. McClellan), gave the 
garrison a joy with her childish antics, and I have heard 
habitues of the fort refer with pride to the times when 
they dandled the dear little miss on their knees. The 
voice of Major Twiggs's daughter, Lizzie, first resounded 
in the fort in January, 1831, and so she is entitled to the 
distinction, as I suppose, of being the first white person 
born within the present limits of Columbia county. 1 

Mrs. Van Cleve has written : " The memory of the weekly 
musicals at John Kinzie 's pleasant agency, and the delight- 
ful rides on horseback over the portage to the point where 
Portage City now stands, quickens my heart even now." 
As Mrs. Van Cleve (then Charlotte Ouisconsin Clark) was 
shortly afterward married to Lieutenant Van Cleve, it is. 
not difficult to guess who her escort was on these occasions. 
It is recorded that the ladies, ever foremost in good works, 
had a Sunday school in progress at the chapel, and let us. 
feel well assured the lessons they taught were fruitful of 
good results. 

Neither was education, temporal or spiritual, neglected,, 
as we learn from W. C. Whitford's paper on " Early History 
of Education in Wisconsin" 2 that Maj. John Green, com- 

1 She died at the age of live, in Washington, D. C. 

2 Wis. Hist. Colls., v, p. 331. The latest history of the subject is 
Stearns's Columbian History of Education in Wisconsin (Milw., 1893).. 
—Ed. 



n> i—i 

— 7. 

- s 



s o z 

— ET n 







I &33<] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 93 

manding officer at Fort Winnebago, engaged, in 1835, Miss 
Eliza Haight as governess in his family; he allowed the 
children of other officers at the fort to attend the school. 
There were in all about a dozen pupils. In the spring of 
1840, Rev. S. P. Keyes became both chaplain and school- 
master of the fort, and taught about twenty children, some 
of them over twelve years of age. 

In the spring of 1833 the garrison was excited over the 
arrival of a clergyman, the Rev. AratusKent, of Galena, who 
was accompanied by his wife. " This event, " Mrs. Kinzie 
wrote, " is memorable as being the first occasion on which 
the gospel, according to the Protestant faith, was preached 
at Port Winnebago. The large parlor of the hospital was 
fitted up for the service, and gladly did we say to each other : 
4 Let us go to the house of the Lord ! ' For nearly three 
years had we lived here without the blessing of a public 
service of praise and thanksgiving. We regarded this 
commencement as an omen of better times, and our little 
4 sewing society' worked with renewed industry to raise a 
fund which might be available hereafter in securing the 
permanent services of a missionary. " l 

The efforts of the ladies in their religious work were some- 
times turned in the direction of the Indians. Explaining 
the nature of their efforts to our old friend Dandy, he re- 
sponded: "That is right; I am glad to see you doing your 
duty; I am very religious myself and I like to see others 
so. I always take care that my squaws attend to their 
duties, not reading, perhaps, but such as the Great Spirit 
liked, and such as I think proper and becoming. " 

The chapel, after the evacuation of the fort, continued 
to be used as such, and the late Rev. William Wells and 
the late Rev. Isaac Smith were accustomed to officiate there. 
The building is now one of the farm buildings on the Hel- 
mann farm, a little east of the old fort. 

The spirit of speculation was also abroad, and army offi- 
cers and their thrifty friends invested in government lands, 
and laid out on paper many a promising village. One of 

1 Wau-Bun, ch. xiv. — Ed. 



94 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

these embraced a considerable tract of land adjoining the 
military reserve on the east, fronting in part on Swan Lake 
and extending back to Stone Quarry Hill, to which was 
given the pretentious name of " Wisconsinapolis. " When 
the capital of the State was being located, the embryo city 
received six affirmative votes, to seven in the negative. 
This proposition has been thought by some, unacquainted 
with its natural advantages, to have been a preposterous 
one; as a matter of fact it was a most eligible and appro- 
priate location for the capital. Another village, called " Ida, " 
occupies the precise spot on Swan Lake, platted last year 
as Oakwood, which promises to become a popular resort. 
Another one on the south side of Swan Lake was called 
" Winnebago City, " but better known in the east as " Swan 
Lake City," and now much better known as "Wardle's 
Farm." 

While the officers hunted and fished, and speculated in 
wild lands and city lots by day, and indulged in games and 
festivities and theatricals at night, and the ladies knit and 
crocheted and did bead work and conducted Sabbath schools, 
and attended to their household duties as well as they could 
with their surroundings, the soldiers stood sentry, and be- 
tween times visited the sutler's stores and trading posts, 
and made merry generally by day and sang "Benny Hav- 
ens, O ! " by night. In brief, army life at Fort Winnebago 
was very much like army life elsewhere. Athletics and 
theatricals, games and races, relieved the tedium; and dis- 
cipline and demoralization, vice and virtue went hand in 
hand. 1 

1 The celebrated English writer, Frederick Marryat, journeyed through 
Wisconsin in 1837, and in his Diary in America (London, 1839, 2 vols.), 
vol. 1, p. 191, records his visit to Fort Winnebago: "Fort Winnebago is 
situated between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers at the portage, the two 
rivers being about a mile and a half apart, the Fox river running east, and 
giving its waters to lake Michigan at Green Bay, while the Wisconsin turns 
to the west and runs into the Mississippi at Prairie du Chien. The fort 
is merely a square of barracks, connected together with palisades, to pro- 
tect it from the Indians, and it is hardly sufficiently strong even for that 
purpose. It is beautifully situated, and when the country fills up will be- 



l845~53-] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 95 

The old fort, however, like all earthly things, had its 
day. The approaching war with Mexico had reached its 
threatening stage; and preparatory for it, orders for the 
evacuation were issued in 1845, the troops being sent to St. 
Louis to relieve those stationed at Jefferson Barracks, who 
had been ordered to the Gulf, and a little later they followed 
them to the sanguinary fields of Mexico. When the evac- 
uation took place, the fort was left in charge of Sergeant 
Van Camp ; but he died shortly after, when Capt. William 
Weir was placed in charge, he having been a soldier in the 
Florida War and afterward at the fort. Later, he was a 
soldier in the War of Secession. In 1853, the property was 
sold under the direction of Jefferson Davis, then secretary 
of war, who, as lieutenant in the army twenty-three years 
before, had assisted in the construction of the fort. ' Prior 

come a place of importance. Most of the officers are married and live a 
very quiet and secluded but not unpleasant life. I stayed there two days, 
much pleased with the society, and the kindness shown to me; but an 
opportunity of descending the Wisconsin to Prairie du Chien, in a keel 
boat, having presented itself, I availed myself of an invitation to join the 
party, instead of proceeding by land to Galena, as had been my original 
intention." 

1 The following is a copy of a letter from the secretary of war to the pres- 
ident, regarding the reservation at Fort Winnebago: 

War Department, Washington, July 26, 1851. — Sir: By an order made 
or or before the 28th day of Februai-y and written upon a plat of the pub- 
lic lands adjacent to Fort Winnebago, the President directed that (among 
others) section 4 in township 12 north, and section 33 in township 13 north, 
range 9 east, be reserved for military purposes. At the time this order was 
made these sections had not been laid out in full, they were, as will appear 
by a copy of the plat bearing the president's order herewith marked D, 
situated on the western limit of the public domain and portions of them, 
if the lines had been run out, would have fallen within the country then 
belonging to an Indian tribe. The unsurveyed portions were, however, 
occupied for public purposes, and buildings were erected and one still 
standing thereon. By a treaty made in 1848 the Indians have ceded their 
land in that vicinity to the United States, and when it is surveyed and the 
lines of sections 4 and 33 completed, the portions of those sections lying 
within the newly acquired territory will be designated as fractional sec- 
tions 4 and 33 lying west, etc., etc. 

I am now advised by the commissioner of the general land office, in a 



Q6 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

to the sale, the board of supervisors of Columbia county, 
January 7, 1852, formally adopted a memorial asking con- 
gress to grant the military reserve at Fort Winnebago for 
the benefit of the Fox and Wisconsin river improvement. 
Just why there should have been a desire to donate these 
lands to a private company, is hard to understand. If Con- 
gress had been asked to donate the reservation to the State, 
very likely it would have been done, as it is the practice of 
late years to donate abandoned military reservations to the 
States in which they are situated, for public purposes. It 
can only be regretted now that it had not been done in this 
instance. If it had been, the most important results might 
have followed. 

It has been a matter of regret, often expressed, that the 
old fort should have been allowed to go to decay. 1 It cer- 
tainly is to be regretted that the historic old spot could 

letter herewith marked E, that agreeably to the understanding of his office 
the executive order as it now stands will not embrace these fractions; " but 
they will be subject to the operations of the general pre-emption law as 
other public lands as soon as they shall be surveyed, unless the President 
acting under advices to be given to that effect by the war department, 
shall deem it proper to add those portions to the existing reserve made for 
the use of the fort by President Jackson and in advance of the time of the 
survey of the same when the pre-emption right can legally attach to 
them." 

Although I think it doubtful under the circumstances whether a pre- 
emption right could legally attach to these lands, embraced as they are by 
the terms of the President's order and actually occupied under it, yet to 
obviate any difficulty I deem it best to pursue the course suggested by the 
commissioner of the general land office and recommend that " the tract of 
land which when surveyed will be denominated fractional section 33 lying 
west of Fox river in township 13 north of range 9 east " and " fraction of 
section 4 lying west of claim No. 21 of A. Grignon in township 12 north, 
range 9 east," adjacent to Port Winnebago, Wisconsin, be reserved from 
sale in fulfillment of the original order of President Jackson above cited. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

CM. Conway, 

Secretary of War. 

To the President — (Approve) — Approved July 29, 1851, and ordered 
accordingly. Millard Filmore. 

1 A destructive fire occurred in the officers' quarters, March 30, 1856, de- 
stroying one of the principal sections of the fort. 



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1 87 1.] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. Q7 

not have been donated to the State, but there was no rea- 
son why the fort should have been maintained. All occa- 
sion for it had passed forever, and in the natural order of 
events the buildings went to decay. H. D. Bath, editor of 
the Columbus Democrat, visited it in 1871, and gave his im- 
pressions of it as it then appeared, in an article published 
at the time: " Duration and desuetude have been busy upon 
it. Most of the buildings stand, but they are sadly dis- 
mantled and decayed. One of the small yet massive block- 
houses was burned simultaneously with the line of buildings 
forming the end of the quadrangle just within the defenses. 
The other remains, but it has been prostituted to bovine 
purposes. A domestic quadruped of that species shelters 
herself from the nightly attacks of the weather, in the strong 
inclosure built for refuge from the fury of the savage. On 
several of the edifices used for officers' quarters and similar 
accommodations, the massy roofing has descended almost 
to the ground, and barely depends, in crumpled decay, over 
the faces of the buildings, as when dilapidation seizes upon 
human ruins obtruding the tatters into their very eyes. The 
timbers were all of the best pine. The weather, however, if 
a slow hewer, is one that never rests and they must soon 
come down. The battered well with its forty feet of depth, 
and its never-failing waters, remains in the center of the 
square, and answers the purpose. Yet the roofed curb and 
heavy roller, worn with much yielding of pure refresh- 
ment, appear about to make a grave of the shaft beneath 
it, and is in a condition to improvise a tomb for any drawer 
of water that gives it a call. The magazine wards off the 
worm as only stone can. Its safe interior has been trans- 
mitted into a boudoir for a new-milch cow. The stone bak- 
ery is also in a good state of preservation; what use pov- 
erty, which makes men burrow wherever they can, has put 
this to, we did not observe. The only human figure to be 
discerned about the premises was a red-shirted Celt, panta- 
looned in what might be the cast-off undress of some 
former commandant long since gone to glory, and the 
child he carried in his arms, though there were flitting in 
7 



98 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol.xiv. 

one of the better-preserved buildings, evidences of further 
family, present and future. He and his brood are the only- 
life now in these former haunts, once so full of frontier life 
and military animation. The outward walls are littered 
with posters, ruptured with winds and rains, and placarded 
with the names of firms telling you where to purchase 
watches, or adjuring you to buy some nostrum incompatible 
with debility or death. Silence and abandonment, two owls 
ancient and voiceless, brood over the place. Existence 
passes it, but seldom stops. Its early origin and associa- 
tions attract you thither; then curiosity melts with sadness 
at its desolation, and you turn from the ruin with no care 
to visit it again. " 

The old ruins, however, so graphically described, have 
at last passed away. Fires destroyed some of them and 
the balance were razed by purchasers who have converted 
their timbers into barns and stables. The old commissary 
building, and a portion of the surgeon's quarters and of 
the hospital, still remain. Much of the land embraced with- 
in the reservation now comprises the stock farm of Mer- 
rell & Hains worth, while the Merrell residence occupies the 
old fort premises. The well continues to do duty as of yore, 
and the stump of the old flag-staff is still pointed out to 
visitors. Lieutenant Davis, in speaking of his career at the 
fort, once remarked to a former Portage lady, who met 
him at his home in Beauvoir, Miss., that to procure this 
staff was a matter of considerable anxiety to him. No 
timber entirely suitable for the purpose could be found 
near the fort. Two men, who had been consulted, informed 
them that the stick must be at least sixty feet in length, 
tapering gradually to a point, and so free from defects that 
it would sway gracefully when the flag was given to the 
breeze; and they were bargained with to bring such a one 
to the fort. 

The fixtures and furniture left at the fort when it was 
evacuated, were disposed of at auction or carried away at 
will, and many a family in the vicinage can boast of some 
old fort relic; the famous " Davises " could have been found 



1827.] THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. 99 

in the inventories of the household effects of some families, 
and they may be in existence somewhere yet, for aught I 
know. An old sideboard that was in service at the Agency, 
presumably Mrs. Kinzie's, is one of the treasures in James 
Collins 's household; and a bureau and sideboard, which 
constituted a part of the furniture in one of the officer's 
quarters, is in possession of Mrs. O. P. Williams; as is also 
the old carved wooden eagle that was perched over the 
main entrance. 

As a necessary adjunct to the fort, a cemetery was es- 
tablished. It was not largely populated from the garri- 
son, and the graves of none of the soldiers who died there 
during its occupancy are marked by stones. Major Clark 
and Captain Low were buried there; but, as already stated, 
their remains were finally removed to family grounds else- 
where. Robert Irwin, Jr., the Indian agent, died there 
July, 1833. Sergt. William Weir and Private Henry Car- 
penter were buried there in after years, and their final 
resting places are appropriately marked. 1 The ceme- 
tery seems to have been made general for the public for a 
period, and not a few of the families of citizens, more or 
less prominent, were buried there; but finally the national 
authorities took it directly in charge and built a substantial 
fence around it, and restricted its use to the military. 
Burials there in the future must be very few indeed; but 
it should be the duty of the national government to care 
for it more befittingly in the future. 

The surrender of Red Bird and his accomplices in the 
Gagnier murder, heretofore referred to, may be said to 
have marked the close of the Winnebago War (1827). While 
the troops were in pursuit of the murderers, the old Indian 
chief, Dekaury, was seized as a hostage for the surrender 
of Red Bird, although he was charged with no offense 

1 The grave of one of the veterans of the Revolution, who was buried 
there, is discernible, the stone marking it bearing this inscription: COOPER 
PIXLEY I Died | Mar. 12, 1855 | M 86 y., 7 m., 26 D. j Soldier of the 
Revolution. 



IOO WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol.XlV. 

himself. He was informed that if the offenders were not 
given up within a certain time, he would be executed him- 
self. A messenger was sent out to inform the tribe of the 
situation, but no tidings came, and the time had nearly- 
expired. Being in poor health, the old chief asked per- 
mission to go to the river and bathe, as he long had been 
accustomed to do. He was informed by Colonel Josiah 
Snelling that if he would promise, upon the honor of a 
chief, that he would not leave, he might have his liberty 
until his time had expired; whereupon he gave his hand to 
the colonel and promised that he would not leave; then he 
raised both hands aloft, and in the most solemn manner 
promised that he would not go beyond the limits accorded 
to him, saying that if he had a hundred lives he would 
rather lose them all than forfeit his word. He was set at 
liberty, and was advised to make his escape, for there was 
no desire to shoot the old fellow, who had been guilty of 
no wrong himself. " No ! Do you think I prize life above 
honor ? " was his only reply. Nine of the ten days allotted 
to him had passed, and regularly at sunset of every day 
Dekaury reported to the colonel; but nothing was heard 
from the murderers. On the last day, General Henry At- 
kinson arrived with his troops, and the order for his exe- 
cution was countermanded. 

After the murder of Gagnier, Red Bird and the other 
Indians implicated in the affair, fled up the Wisconsin 
River, and a mounted force to operate against the Winne- 
bagoes as a body scoured both sides of the river up to 
Portage. Maj. William Whistler, who was in command at 
Fort Howard (Green Bay), had been ordered by General At- 
kinson to go up the Fox to the portage, with any force at 
his disposal. A company of Oneida and Stockbridge In- 
dians accompanied Whistler's troops, and were encamped 
on the bluff opposite the portage where Fort Winne- 
bago was subsequently built, to await the arrival of the 
general. In the meantime, the Winnebagoes to the number 
of several hundred > were encamped on the ridge along 
where Cook street now runs, west of the Catholic church. 



^ZS-] ■ THE HISTORY OF FORT WINNEBAGO. IOI 

The Winnebagoes had heard of Atkinson's approach 
and Col. Henry Dodge's pursuit, before they were known 
to Whistler, and in a few days a great stir was dis- 
covered among the Indians. A party of thirty warriors 
was observed, by the aid of a field glass, on an eminence 
in the distance. It was Red Bird and his party, coming in 
to surrender. The details of the surrender of Red Bird 
have been most graphically described by the historians of 
the period. I would particularly advise the reader to ex- 
amine the admirable account of the affair in Colonel Mc- 
Kenney's "The Winnebago War of 1827," in the Wisconsin 
Historical Collections, vol. v. The heroism of Red Bird and 
his friend Wekau was one of the most remarkable inci- 
dents in the annals of our Indian wars. 1 

The prisoners were sent to Prairie du Chien for trial, be- 
fore Judge Doty. They were convicted, but for some cause 
sentence was deferred. While confined, Red Bird sickened 
and died — committed suicide, Mrs. Kinzie says, in Wau-Bun, 
in consequence of chagrin, the ignominy of his confinement 
being more than his proud spirit could bear; he had expected 
death. The historian, William R. Smith, who came to the 
Territory at a very early period, and was familiar with In- 
dian character, speaking of the affair in his History of Wis- 
consin, states: "The delay of administering justice was to 
the Indian a matter not comprehended; they scarcely in 
any instance deny an act which they have committed, and 
do not understand why punishment should not be immedi- 
ately inflicted on the guilty. The imprisonment of the 
body is to them a most insufferable grievance, and they 
look upon the act as cowardice on the part of the whites, 
presuming that they dare not inflict such punishment as 
the crime demands." 

Red Bird's accomplices were subsequently sentenced to 
be hung December 26, 1828; but before that date they were 
pardoned by President Adams, one of the implied condi- 

J Cf. also, general index to Wis. Hist. Colls., x, for miscellaneous 
references to surrender of Red Bird and Wekau. — Ed. 



102 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv* 

ticms being that the Indians should cede to the govern- 
ment the lands the miners had already appropriated to 
their use. Mrs. Gagnier was compensated for the loss of 
her husband and the mutilation of her infant. At the treaty 
in Prairie du Chien, in 1829, provision was made for two 
sections of land to her and her two children; and the gov- 
ernment agreed to pay her the sum of $50 per annum for 
fifteen years, to be deducted from the annuity of the Win- 
nebago Indians. This was the last act in the Winnebago 
outbreak. 






. EX 



l834-] FORT WINNEBAGO ORDERLY BOOK. IO3 



FORT WINNEBAGO ORDERLY BOOK, 1834-36. 



The orderly book of Fort Winnebago, from September 
24, 1834, to September 6, 1836, is in the possession of this 
Society, having been presented by Mrs. Charlotte Ouiscon- 
sin Van Cleve (now of Minneapolis, Minn.), 1 widow of 
Lieut. Horatio Phillips Van Cleve, who was, for most of 
this period, acting adjutant of the Fifth Infantry. The 
book has 160 pages, and contains the details of official pro- 
ceedings at the garrison. These are mainly courts- martial, 
the offenders being privates and non-commissioned officers, 
many of whom appear to have had ungovernable tendencies 
towards drunkenness, disorderly conduct, " crossing the 
Fox river without permission," and introducing intoxi- 
cating liquors into the fort. We select the following 
as being typical of the contents of the volume, and em- 
bracing the principal events recorded. It should be ex- 
plained that the entries were made by clerks, under the 
direction of the acting adjutant; the latter therefore not 
being responsible for the somewhat erratic orthography 

and grammatical construction. 

Hd. Qrs. 5th Inft'y 

Spe Order [ Fokt Howard. 29th September. 1834 

No. 17 5 

The Detachments of Recruits destined to Fort Winne- 
bago, will proceed tomorrow morning to that Post with as 
little delay as possible, under the command of Sergt. 
Leach of (I) Company 5th Inft'y. On arriving at Fort 
Winnebago, Sergeant Leach will report to the Command- 
ing Officer, and deliver the papers of the Detachment. 
By order of Bt. Brig. Genl. Brook 

(Signed) W. Chapma.n, 

Adjt. 5th Inft'y. 

1 See ante, p. 67. — Ed. 



104 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

Hd. Qrs. Port Winnebago 

Order ) Oct. 8th 1834. 

No. 130 \ 

1. The Recruits who arrived here on the 5th inst. are 
assigned to Comp'ys as follows. — To Comp'y (C) Dominick 
Flannaghan & James McKinzie. To (D) Carey Aplin, 
Michel Casey & Hiram Stark. To (E) Wm Carson, Thos. 
Farrol, Michael Foley, Jas. McDonald, Jeremiah Thomp- 
son & Thos. McGowan. To (F) Lewis Hanawold, John 
Nixon, George Smith & George Wood. 

2. The above named Recruits, will not be liable to de- 
tail for armed service till further orders, a n.com'sd Officer 
from each Comp'y, will drill the recruits belonging to 
that Comp'y every day, Sundays excepted, from 10 to 11 
O'Clock A. M. and from 3 to 4 O'Clock P. M.— The sub- 
alterns will superintend the drill, alternating each week 
about commencing with (C) 

3. Private Aplin of (D) will be reported as learning Music. 

4. Sergt. Wilkinson will be reported for duty. 

By Order of Lt. Col. Cutler 

(Signed) H. D. Van Cleve, 

Act. Adj. 



Head. Qrs. Port Winnebago 
Order ) Oct. 10th 183L 

No 132 J 

It — Before a garrison court Martial of which Capt Low 
is president was tried, 

It Mus. Benj. Yeomans of (F) Company, 5th Infantry, 
Charge — It Mus. Benj. Youmans of (F) Company 5th In- 
fartry is Charged with being absent from the garrison of 
Fort Winnebago between Tattoo & revilee on the night 
of 30th Sept. and morning of It of Oct. without permis- 
sion from the proper authority 

Charge 2d — Crossing the Fox river without permission 
during the above specified time. 

Charge 3d — Attempting to bring whiskey across Fox river 
bridge in violation of Garison orders at the time also Speci- 
fied 



1834-] FORT WINNEBAGO ORDERLY BOOK. IO5 

Pl ea _ To which Charges the prisoner pleaded as fol- 
lows—Charge It Guilty Charge 2d not Guilty Charge 
3d not Guilty 

Finding & sentence \ The Court after mature delibera- 
tion on the testimony adduced confirm his plea to It charge. 
2dCharge and 3d Charge not proven and do sentence him 
to have one months pay $6,00 stopped to have a ball & 
chain attached to his leg and put to labour for 10 days dur- 
ing the interval of which he is to be confined to the Guard 
house 

2d _ Corpl. James Scott of (E) company 5th Inf y 

Corpl. James Scott of (E) company 5th Infy is charged 
with being drunk on the 8th Oct., 1834 at Port Winnebago, 

M. T. 

Pl ea _ To which charge the prisoner pleaded not Guilty 

Finding & sentence \ The court after mature delibera- 
tion on the testimony adduced do find the prisoner Corpl. 
James Scott, Guilty of the Charge prefered against him, 
and do sentence him to be reduced to the ranks in his Com- 
pany. 

3d — The forgoing proceedings of the Garison Court Mar- 
tial; of which Capt. Low is president, are approved, and 
the sentences awarded the prisoners; Mus. Yeomans and 
Corpl. Scott will be carried into effect. 

4th — The court is dissolved 

By Order of Lt. Col. Cutler 
(Signed) H. P. Van Cleve 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 
Order > Oct. 16th 1834 

No 137 J 
1st — Before a garison court Martial of which Capt. Low 

is president was tried 

Corpl. Farnam of (F) Company 5th Infantry 

Charge ; Conduct unbecoming an non commissioned officer 

Specification 1st; In this that the said Corpl. Farnam did 



106 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. XIV. 

introduce ardent spirits in to the Hospital Kitchen and en- 
courage disorderly conduct in the Hospital at Port Winne- 
bago on or about the 10th Oct. 1834 

Specification 2d ; In this that the said Corpl. Farnam did 
cause or persuade private McLoughlin of (C) Company one 
of the attendants to drink of ardent spirits at the Hospital 
untill he was drunk at Fort Winnebago on or about the 10th 
of Oct. 1834 

Plea 3 — To which Charge and its Specification the pris- 
oner pleaded not guilty 

Finding & sentence) The court on the testimony ad- 
duced find the prisoners as follows 

Guilty of the 1st specification, 2d Specification not proven, 
Guilty of the Charge and do sentence him to be reduced to 
the rank of a private sentinel 

2d — The foregoing proceedings of the garison court Mar- 
tial of which Capt. Low is president are approved and the 
sentence awarded the prisoner will be carried into effect. 

3d — The Court is dissolved 

By order of Lt. Col. Cutler 
(Signed) H. P. Van Cleve 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs. Fokt Winnebago 

Order ) Oct. 28th 1831 

No 143 5 

1st — A garison court Martial will assemble at 10 Oclock 

this morning for the trial of such Prisoners as may be 

brought before it Lieut. Johnston President 

Hooe 

Members 



Ruggles 

2d The troops will be mustered and inspected by Com- 
panies at 10 oclock A. M. on the last day of the month 
commencing with E. Labour will cease at £ past 1 oclock 
P. M. the day proceding and the guard will not be relieved 
until after the inspection is completed. The rolls and Com- 
pany books will be examined at the office of the Command- 



I %35-] FORT WINNEBAGO ORDERLY BOOK. IO7 

ing officer immediately after troop the day following the 
Muster 

3d On the 1st of Nov. and untill further orders the sur- 
geons Call will be given at 10 minutes after 8 oclock A. M. 
The signal for pease on the trencher at & past 8 oclock 
A. M. Fatigue drum at 9 oclock A. M. Assembly drum 
at 2 oclock P. M. Signal for Roast Beef at £ past 2 oclock 
P. M. and Fatigue drum at 3 oclock P. M. 

4th The guard will be turned off at 10 oclock A. M. the 
first signal to be given 15 minutes before that time excepting 
on Saturdays when the signal for inspection will be given at 
10 and that for guard mounting at i past 10 oclock A. M. 

5th Privt. Robinson of Company (E) will be reported on 
extra duty under the orders of the Act. Q. M. 

6th The resignation of Corporal Post is accepted to take 

effect this day subject to the approval of the Col. of the 

Regt. 

By order of Lit. Col. Cutler 

(Signed) H. P. Vancleve 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qks Fort Winnebago 
Order > *, February 26th 1835 

No. 11 ) 

1 The troops will be mustered and inspected by Compa- 
nies on the last day of the month at 10 oclock A. M. com- 
mencing with (E). The guard will not be releived until 
after the inspection is Completed. The Rolls will be ex- 
amined and signed at the office of the commanding officer 
on Monday Morning Next immediately after guard Mount- 
ing. The party procureing logs will be Mustered absent. 

2d — On the 1st of the Month the following alterations in 
the beats will take place. Surgeons Call 20 Minutes before 
8 o'clock A. M. Pease on the trencher at 8 oclock Fatigue 
drum at \ past 8 oclock Assembly drum at \ past 1 o'clock 
P. M. Signal for Roast beef at 2 oclock and Fatigue drum 
at \ past 2 oclock P. M. 

3d — The guard will be turned off at 9 oclock A. M. the 



108 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol.XlV. 

first signal to be given 15 Minutes before that time except- 
ing on Saturdays when the signal for inspection will be 
given 30 Minutes after 9 and that for guard Mounting at 10 

oclock A. M. 

By Order of Lt. Col. Cutler 

(Signed) H. P. Vancleave 

Act. Adjt, 

Head Qks. Fort Winnebago 
Order ) March 8th 1835 

No. 13) 

1st — The irregular and unmilitary Manner of relieveing 
sentinels, which some of the corporals have fallen into 
must be corrected and the officer of the day is required to 
arrest any one of them who shall deviate from the estab- 
lished and usal mode of conducting the relief. 

2d — All the ashes carried from the garison will be 
deposited at the place where slops are required to be 
emtied & the Police Tubs will be emtied into the mens 
sink existing orders require this, and measures will be 
adopted by the commanding officer to detect all further 
deviation from it. 

3d — Hereafter horses are not to come within the gates 
of the circular paleing which incloses the garison 
By Order of Lieut. Col. Cutler 

(Signed) H. P. Vancleave. 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs. Fokt Winnebago 
Order ) April 21st 1835 

No. 30 S 

All Canoes belonging to individuals in the garrison will 
hereafter be kept near the bridge and under the charge of 
sentinel No. 4 during the day & No. 5 in the night. The 
sentinels will be instructed to permit no enlisted man to 
use them without being Passed by an officer or an non- 
commissioned officer of the guard 

By order of Lt. Col. Cutler 

(Signd) H. P. Vancleave 

Act. Adjt. 



1 835-1 FORT WINNEBAGO ORDERLY BOOK. IOO, 

Head Qrs. Port Winnebago 
Order ) April 24th 1835 

No. 32 J 

The Asst. Commissary will pay in Flour to the Compan- 
ies of this garrison the amount due them respectively from 
the subsistance Dept. in consequence of the failure of the 
contractor to furnish beans, such arrangements will be 
made by the superintendent of the bake house as will en- 
sure a small daily increase of the bread part of the Ration 
until the amount due the Companies shall have been con- 
sumed 

By order of Lt. Col. Cutler 

(Sgd.) H. P. Vancleave Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 

Order ) April 28th 1835 

No. 34j 

1st The troops will be Mustered and inspected on the 
30th Inst, at 8 oclock A. M. by Companies Commencing 
with E. Labour will cease at half past 1 oclock tomorrow 
until the inspection is completed and the guard will not be 
releived until that time. The Rolls will be examined and 
signed at the office of the commanding officer on the Morn- 
ing following Muster 

2d On the first of May until otherwise ordered the sur- 
geons Call will beat 20 minutes before 7 oclock A. M. 
Pease on the trencher at 7 oclock A. M. Fatigue drum at 
half past 7 oclock A. M. Assembly drum at half past 12 
oclock M. Roast Beef at 1 oclock P. M. Fatigue drum 
at half past 1 oclock P. M. 

3d The hour for turning off the guard will be 8 oclock 
A. M., the first call to be given 15 minutes before that 
time excepting on Saturdays, on that day the . signal for 
inspection will be given at 8 oclock and that for guard 
mounting at half past 8 oclock A. M. Fatigue drum will 
beat as soon as the call for guard Mounting is given. 
Other signals are as they are at Present. 

4th When Not otherwise ordered the guard will mount 



IIO WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

in uniform and it is expected that each individual will 
habitually present himself for this duty, with his clothing 
arms & accoutrements in high order. 

5th The Flag will be hoisted daily at troop when the 
weather is suitable, the officer of the day will cause it to 
be lowered when ever wind or rain renders it necessary 
during the day 

By order of Lt. Col. Cutler, 
Sgd. H. P. Vancleave Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 

Order ) May 4th 1835 

No. 37$ 

1st The following extract from the proceedings of a 
Council of administration held on the 14th of Sept. 1832 
is published for the information of all Concerned. The 
Camp Women of this Post will wash for the officers & sol- 
diers and at the following Rates. 50 Cents per Dozen or 
two dollars per Month for single gentlemen, four dollars 
per Month for Married officers, 50 Cents per Month addi- 
tional for every Child or Serveant. They may wash for 50 
Cents per Month for the soldiers. 

2d The Ice house will be opened every Morning at Fa- 
tigue drum after Revelly by Sergeant Van Camp when 
families will supply themselves for the day 

By order of Lt. Col. Cutler 
(Signed) H. P. Vancleave 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 

Order ) May 14th 1835 

No. 39 5 

1st The drill of Companies will Commence and take place 

daily Sundays excepted when the weather permits at 9 

O. Clock A. M. and at 5 O'Clock P. M. Continueing one 

hour each time, the appropriate signals will be given by 



I835-J FORT WINNEBAGO ORDERLY BOOK. Ill 

the Guard. As a new system of Tacticks May in a short 
time be expected Company Commanders will do well to 
Confine their attention for the present principly to such 
parts of the drill as will least likely undergo a Change 

2d Pvt. Chellis of E will be releived from extra duty by 
Pvt. Healey of the same Company 

By order of Lt. Col. Cutler 

(Signd) H. P. Vancleave 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 

Order ) May 16th 1835 

No. 40 S 

1st A Council of administration will Convene to day at 
6 oclock P. M. for the transaction of such business as may 
be brought before it. The Council will Consist of Bvt. 
Major Clark, Capt. Low and Lt. Johnston Members Lt. 
Vancleave Secretary. 

2d The Council fixed the following prices to the sutlers 

goods which haveing been approved they are published for 

All Concerned. Beer 75 Cents per gallon or 12|- Cents per 

pint Crackers 18f Cents per pound. Brooms 31^ Cents 

each 

By order of Lt. Col. Cutler 

(Signed) H. P. Vancleave 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 
Order ) May 24th 1835 

No. 42 5 

The Lieut. Col. Commanding being about to leave the 
Post Surrenders the Charge of it to Bvt. Maj. Clark, all 
Concerned will govern themselves accordingly. In per- 
forming this last official act he tenders to all his best 
wishes for their health, happiness, and prosperity 
By order of Lt. Col. Cutler 

Signed, H. P. Vancleave 

Act. Adjt. 



112 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol.XlV. 

Head Qrs. Fort Winnebacio 

Order ) May 24th 1835 

No. 43 3 

Bvt. Maj. Clark assumes Command of the Post as Indi- 
cated in order No. 42 of this date, existing orders & regula- 
tions of the Garison will be adhered to 

By order of Bt. Maj. Clark 

Signd H. P. Vancleave 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 

Order ) May 30th 1835 

No. 47) 

1st The 2d Section of the Military road Contemplated 
in General Order No. 20 of the 1st Ultimo will be Com- 
menced on Monday next 1 

2d Company C and E. will first be employed on it 

3d Company D will encamp near Duck Creek* and work 
towards the Fort (*Make a bridge a cross it) 

4th Company C will encamp near Whitneys store house 
the Ouisconsin and Meet Company E which will Commence 
at Fox River and for the Present lodge in Quarters 

5th The extra and daily duty Men one Gardner for each 
Company and the noneffective will necessarily remain at 
the Fort. 

6th The Guard Will be reduced to one Non Commis- 
sioned officer and 4 Privates one of which Will report to 
the noncommissioned officer Specially detailed for police 
and receive his orders 

7th Mason of D now reported learning Music will be re- 
ported for duty as a Private 

8th Parker of C attendant in Hospital will be relieved 
by Prouty of the same Company 

By order of Bvt. Maj. Clark 
(Signed) J. T. Colllnsworth 

Act. Adjt. 

1 See ante, p. 89.— Ed. 



I ^35-] FORT WINNEBAGO ORDERLY BOOK. 113 

Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 

Order ) June 4th 1835 

No. 48) 

The Guard -will habitually dress in white Jackets and 
Forage Caps until further Orders 

By order of Bvt. Maj. Clark 
(Signd) J. T. Collinsworth 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs 5th Infantry 

Order ) Fort Dearborn 29th June 1835 

No. — 5 

Bvt. Brig-Genl Brook Col. of the 5th Regiment of In- 
fantry having been orded to this Post on a General Court 
Martial takes this oppertunity of expressing his sincere 
pleasure in witnessing the good Conduct of this Command 
evinces particular by its Moral behaviour and Character 
doing themselves high Credit in the opinion of officers and 
citizens he has not had an oppertunity from particular Cir- 
cumstances of inspecting it Critically, but has noted both 
its drill and Police with great satisfaction, he therefore 
tenders both to the officers and men his best respects for 
their Military efficacy and Moral worth 

Signd Bvt. Brig Genl Brook Commg, 5th Infy 



Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 
Order ) July 3d 1835 

No. 53 5 

To morrow being the anniversary of american Independ- 
ance a national salute will be fired at one oclock P. M. un- 
der the directions of Lt. Collinsworth. The Company on 
duty at the Fort will also be under arms, as indicated in 
No. 92 Genl. Regulations 

By order of Bvt. Maj. Clark 

(Signed) J. T. Collinsworth 

Act. Adjt. 
8 



114 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. XIV. 

Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 
Order ) Sept. 24th 1835. 

No. 68 \ 

Upon the application of Pvt. Nelson of D Company a 
court of enquiry will Convene tomorrow at 10 oclock A. M. 
to investigate , the facts relative to his Conduct while a 
sentinel on Post on the 18th Instant, when it is reported a 
personal encounter occured between him and a Winnebago 
Indian which has eventuated in the death of the latter 

The Court will be Composed of Capt. Low President 
Lieuts. Johnston and Lacy Members Asst. Surgeon Mc - 
Dougal recorder and will render its opinion relative to the 
Culpability of Nelson 1 

By order of Bvt. Maj. Clark 

(Signd) J. T. Collinsworth 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qs. Fort Winnebago 
Order ) Oct. 1st 1835 

No. 71 $ 

Lieut. Collinsworth will relieve Lieut. Johnston as Treas- 
urer of the Post fund and will also take charge of the 
Post Library 

By order of Bvt. Maj. Clark 

(Sgnd) J. T. Collinsworth 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 

Order ) Oct. the 4th 1835 

No. 72 ] 

Major Green assumes Command of Fort Winnebago all 

concerned will govern themselves accordingly. Existing 

orders and regulations for the government of the garrison 

will remain in full force until Modified or Countermanded. 

By order of Maj. Green 

(Signd) J. T. Collinsworth 

Act. Adjt. 

1 The book does not, however, contain further reference to this mat- 
ter.— Ed. 



1 835.] FORT WINNEBAGO ORDERLY BOOK. II5 

Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 

Spec. Order ) . Oct. 5tb 1835 

No. 11 \ 

Sergt. Brown of E Company 5th Infantry will proceed to 
Fort Crawford (Prairie du Chien) in Mr. Rolette's boat and 
will take under his charge Pvts Peables and Harris desert- 
ers from the 1st Infantry. Sergt. Brown on his arival at 
Fort Crawford will report to the Commanding officer of 
the Post, and will return by the earliest oppertunity 
By order of Maj. Green 

(Signed) J. T. Collinsworth 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 
Order ) November 12th 1835 

No. 87 ) 

From information received by the Commanding officer, 
it appears that some pretentions is made to sundry build- 
ings such as Stables &c as privates property by in- 
dividuals of this command. No such Claim Can be ad- 
mitted. All or any buildings that May have been, or may 
hereafter be put up are and will be Considered as public 
property 

The permission granted to any person or persons to put up 
any building or buildings, being a Matter of accommodation 
will not entitle any to the right of transfering such building 
or buildings by sale or otherwise. When the individual or 
individuals for whose Convenience buildings have been 
erected in the vicinity of the garrison, leaves the Post and 
ceases to occupy them for the purposes for which they 
were erected they will be Considered in the hands of the 
Quarter Master and disposed of as Circumstances may re- 
quire, under the directions of the Commanding officer; 
The building that is present used as a Hospital stable, 
will be put in good repair for the accommodation of the 
horses of the surgeon of the Post, as soon as it Conven- 
iently Can be done. No building or enclosure of any 
description will hereafter be established on this reserva- 



Il6 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. XIV. 

tion without the special permission — and the foregoing 
Conditions expressed in this order 

By order of Major Green 

Signed, J. T. Collinsworth 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs. Port Winnebago 

Order ) November 12th 1835 

No. 88 5 

The Commanding officer directs that so much of the order 
of this Morning on the subject of stables &c be Modified as 
follows Viz. That when an officer is about to leave the 
Post and has no further use for the property it Can be 
turned over to his successor or other Military friend be- 
longing to the Post and not to the Quarter Master. The 
intention and object of the order being only to prevent the 
establishment of private Claims on the public reservation 
by any building, or enclosures that have been erected or 
that May hereafter be erected on the same 
By order of Maj. Green 

Signd J. T. Collinsworth, 

Act. Adjt. 



Head Qrs Fort Winnebago 

Order ) Feb 18 1836 

No. 11 5 

The Major Commanding hase the painful duty to an- 
once to the command the death of Brevt Major N Clark, 1 
he will be buried to-Morrow at 2 Oclock with the honnours 
of War, when all present except those persons who may be 
expressly excused will appere under arms in full uniform. 
The Commanding officer, directs that the escort, [be] com- 
posed of four Companies, which in accordance with his 
owne feelings as well as what is due to the deceased he 
will command in person, all officers of this command will 
ware black crape, attached to the hilts of there swords, & 

'See Mrs. Van Cleve's Three Score Years and Ten, pp. 105-107.— Ed. 



1836.] FORT WINNEBAGO ORDERLY BOOK. 117 

as testimony of respect for the deceased the like bage 
[badge] will be worn for the period 30 days, the Surgeon 
■of the Post will act as Chaplain 

By order of Major Green 

Signed J. T. Collinsworth 

Act. Agt. 



Head Qrs. Fort Winnebago 
Order > 23 July 1836 

No 98 S 

I. Not more than Three men per Company will go on pass 
at the same time, and on their return they will report in 
person to their Company Officer, should they not return 
punctually at the expiration of their permission or Should 
be in a state of intoxication, they will be refused passes for 
the next 30 days, or confined for trial or not at the discre- 
tion of their Company Officer. 

II. All passes must be Countersigned by the Command- 
ing Officer. 

III. Private Mc Donald of " E " Company will be reported 
on Extra duty "Herdsman " under the Orders of the Actg. 
Asst. Qr. Master 

By Order of Capt. Low 

"Signed" J. H. Whipple 

Act. Adjt. 



I iS WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol.xiv. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 



BY ALFRED AUGUSTUS JACKSON. 

Black Hawk was chief of a band of Sac Indians. The 
Sacs are supposed to have come from Canada at an early 
date. 1 They lived for a long time in the vicinity of Rock 
Island. Their main village was located at the junction of 
the Rock and Mississippi rivers. This village, Black Hawk 
says, had existed for over a hundred years." In this vil- 
lage, he claims to have been born in 1767. 3 The Sacs and 
Foxes formed a sort of confederacy, and lived together in 
friendly relations. 

In 1804,* a treaty was made with the Sac and Fox Indians 
at St. Louis, by Gen. William Henry Harrison, by which 
these tribes relinquished their claims to the lands bounded 
by the Mississippi, the Illinois, and the Wisconsin rivers. 
The tribes were not immediately removed from the lands 
described in the treaty, but were permitted to live and hunt 
upon them so long as the government owned them. Al- 
though this treaty was ratified several times, Black Hawk 
always insisted that his people had not consented to the 
document, and were not bound by it. 5 

1 Life of Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak, or Black Hatch, dictated by 
himself (St. Louis ed., 1882), p. 11; this will be referred to later, as " Black 
Hawk's Autobiography." See also, Wis. Hist. Colls., iii, p. 136. For 
bibliography of the Black Hawk War, see Id., xii, p. 217, note. 

2 Black Hatch's Autobiog., p. 58. 

3 Ibid., pp. 11, 16. 

4 Indian Treaties, U. S. Stat, at large, vii, p. 84. 
6 Black Hawk's Autobiog., p. 8. 



1 83I.I LINCOLN IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR. II9 

About 1828, the public lands about Rock Island were of- 
fered for sale by the government. The white population 
in Illinois had increased so rapidly, that in 1830 it num- 
bered about 155,000. In 1831, the Indians became trouble- 
some, and frequent conflicts occurred between them and 
the whites. Complaints were made to the government by 
the white settlers, and the tribesmen were required to move 
to the west side of the Mississippi. 1 A portion of the Sacs 
and Poxes, under Keokuk, head chief of the Foxes, peace- 
ably removed across the river as required; but Black Hawk 
and a portion of the Sacs, who were in sympathy with 
him, refused to leave. It was the custom of the Indians 
to leave their village and winter in other portions of the 
country, west of the Mississippi, hunting and trapping. 
In the spring of 1831, when they returned from their hunt- 
ing expedition, they found that the whites had taken pos- 
session of portions of the lands they had occupied and cul- 
tivated.- Black Hawk was greatly dissatisfied with this, 
and ordered the whites away, threatening them with death 
if they remained. 3 The settlers became alarmed for their 
safety, and complained to Gov. John Reynolds, of Illinois, 
who reported the fact to Gen. Edmund P. Gaines of the 
United States Army.* 

Reynolds, at the request of Gaines, called out 700 vol- 
unteers, and 1,500 responded to the call. 5 With this force, 
and several companies of regulars, Gaines marched to the 
mouth of Rock River, whereupon Black Hawk with his 
band moved to the west side of the Mississippi. 6 Gaines 
threatened to pursue the Sacs across the river and punish 
them for their disregard of the treaty. To prevent this, 
Black Hawk made another treaty with Gaines, by which 
he agreed to remain on the west side of the river, and not 

1 Black Hawk's Autobiog., p. 84. 

2 Wis. Hist. Colls., xii, p. 224. 
3 H)id., p. 225. 

* Ford's History of Illinois (Chicago, 1854), iii, p. 111. 
6 76<YZ.,p. 112. 
6 lb id, p. 113. 



120 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. XIV. 

to recross it without the consent of the president, or of 
the governor of Illinois. 1 

Notwithstanding this treaty, the Black Hawk band re- 
crossed the Mississippi below Rock Island, April 6, 1832. 2 
This was regarded by Reynolds as an invasion of Illinois, 
whereupon he issued a call for volunteers, to meet at 
Beardstown April 22, to protect the settlers and drive the 
Indians from the State. It may be observed that Black 
Hawk was not loyal to this government. His sympathies 
were wholly with the British, and his band was known as 
the " British band. " 3 

It was at this time, and under these circumstances, that 
Abraham Lincoln first became an historic character. His 
father and mother were born in Virginia/ and soon after 
their marriage emigrated to Hardin county, Kentucky, 
where Abraham was born on February 12, 1809. At an 
early day, his father and mother moved into Indiana, and 
from there into Illinois. 5 

When Reynolds issued his call for volunteers, April 16, 
1832, young Lincoln was living at New Salem, near Spring- 
field, in Sangamon county, about 120 miles south from 
Rock Island. 6 When the call was issued, Lincoln promptly 
enlisted, and with many of his neighbors went to Beards- 
town, in Cass county, about 40 miles northwest of Spring- 
field. At Beardstown, the company which he had joined 
was organized April 21, by his selection as captain. 7 There 
was another candidate for the position. The method of 

^ord., p. 116. 

2 Ibid., p. 116; Lamon's Recollections of Abraham Lincoln (Chicago, 
1895), p. 100; Wakefield's History of the War between the U. S. and 
the Sac and Fox Natio?is of Indians (Jacksonville, 111., 1834), p. 10; 
Black Hawk and Mexican War Records of Illinois (Springfield, 
1882), p. xv. 

3 Black HawVs-Autobiog., p. 78; Wis. Hist. Colls., vi, p. 289. 

4 Arnold's Life of Lincoln (Chicago, 1887), p. 17; Tarbell's Early 
Life of Lincoln (N. Y., 1896), pp. 36, 37. 

8 Arnold, pp. 17, 18, 28. 

6 Ibid, pp. 31, 32; Black Hawk and Mexican War Records, p. 176. 

1 Tarbell, p. 138. 



1832.] LINCOLN IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 121 

election adopted, was for the two candidates to take sep- 
arate positions, and let each member of the company form 
in line with the candidate he preferred. Lincoln's line 
was much longer than that of the other candidate; he was, 
therefore, declared elected.' In a brief autobiographical 
•sketch made later in life, referring to this election, he said: 
" Then came the Black Hawk War, and I was elected a 
captain of volunteers, a success which gave me more 
pleasure than any I have had since." 

Lincoln was, at this time, only a little over twenty-three 
years of age. He was not the ignorant man that many 
have been led to believe. Although his advantages for 
education were quite limited, and would not compare favor- 
ably with those enjoyed by most youth of to-day, they were 
the same as those of his comrades. While he had not had 
access to many books, he had read with care everything 
within his reach. What he had read, he had retained. He 
was naturally studious and thoughtful, and it is probable 
that in intelligence and prudence he was the superior, not 
only of his young companions, but of most of the older 
pioneers of Illinois. It is almost certain, from the some- 
what limited knowledge that we have of his early life, that 
at the time he was elected captain of this militia company 
he was a brave, earnest, self-reliant man. 

The company of which Lincoln was captain, formed a 
part of the Fourth Illinois Regiment, commanded bj T Col. 
Samuel Thompson. 2 This volunteer force was placed under 
the command of Gen. Samuel Whiteside, of the Illinois 
volunteers. April 27, this force, accompanied by the gov- 
ernor (Reynolds), commenced its march to Rock Island, 3 by 
the way of Oquaka, in Henderson county, and Yellow 
Banks, on the Mississippi, at which latter place it was ex- 
pected that boats with provisions would meet it. 

1 Arnold, p. 30. 

2 Lamon, p. 102; Wakefield, p. 13; Armstrong's The Sauks and the 
Black Hawk War (Springfield, 111., 1887), p. G65. 

3 Nicolay and Hay's Abraham Lincoln — a II /story (N. Y., 1890), i, 
p. 90. 



122 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

The column halted at the crossing of Henderson River, 
in Henderson county, for the purpose of constructing a 
bridge. An order was here issued forbidding the firing of 
arms within fifty yards of the camp. Captain Lincoln vio- 
lated this order, by firing his pistol within the prescribed 
limits, and was placed under arrest and deprived of his 
sword for a day. 1 

On the march, a soldier of a company from Sangamon 
county broke into the officers' quarters in the night, and 
stole a quantity of liquors. Of course without the knowl- 
edge of the captain, the thief supplied Lincoln's company so 
liberally that in the morning they were unable to march, 
and were left behind by the army to get sober. 2 Although 
Lincoln was without fault in the matter, he was again pun- 
ished, this time by being compelled to wear a wooden sword 
for two days. 

In those early days, Lincoln was as strict and just in his 
observance and enforcement of the rights of others, as in 
his later years. There came into the camp of Lincoln's 
company a poor, hungry Indian, who presented a begging 
letter from Gen. Lewis Cass, recommending him for his 
services to the whites. The men were disposed to regard 
him as a spy, and to treat him accordingly. Lincoln 
promptly interfered, declaring that this peaceful Indian 
should not be killed by them. Some of his men charged 
him with cowardice, whereupon Lincoln replied, " If any 
man thinks I am a coward, let him test it! " One of the 
men said, " You are larger and heavier than we are." Lin- 
coln replied, " This you can guard against; choose your 
weapons." No weapons were chosen, and the incident 
ended. 3 

From Henderson River, they marched to Yellow Banks, 
where they arrived on May 3. There they waited three 
days for the provision boats, and then proceeded to the 

1 Lamon, p. 102; Herndon and Weik's Herndon'a Lincoln (Chicago, 
1889), i, p. 95. 

2 Lamon, p. 103. 

'Arnold, p. 34; Herndon, i, p. 95. 



1832.] LINCOLN IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 1 23 

mouth of Rock River, where they arrived May 7, 1 and found 
General Atkinson with a force of regulars, and were mus- 
tered into the United States service. 

In the memoir of Jefferson Davis by his wife, 2 it is stated 
that when this volunteer force was called out by Governor 
Reynolds, Gen. Winfield Scott was in command at Fort 
Snelling, and dispatched thence to the seat of war two 
lieutenants to muster in the Illinois volunteers. One of 
these lieutenants was said to be a "very fascinating young 
man, of easy manners and affable disposition;" while " the 
other was equally pleasant and extremely modest;" it is 
further stated that " a tall, homely young man, dressed in 
a suit of blue jeans," presented himself to the lieutenants 
as the captain of a company of volunteers, and was with 
the others duly sworn in; and that the oath of allegiance was 
administered to the "young man in blue jeans" by the 
" fascinating " young lieutenant, first named. 

This " fascinating " young officer was Jefferson Davis, 
who was nearly a year the senior of Lincoln; his "ex- 
tremely modest " colleague was Robert Anderson, who at 
the beginning of the War of Secession was in command at 
Fort Sumter; and the tall, homely, young captain in 
" blue jeans, " was Abraham Lincoln. There may be a 
grain of truth in this romantic statement, but it is doubt- 
ful. At the time Lincoln was elected captain, and mus- 
tered into service, Scott was not at Fort Snelling; he was 
in the East, and did not reach Chicago until July 8. 3 Lieut. 
Jefferson Davis did not, at that time, come from Fort Snell- 
ing; he had for a considerable time been with Co]. Zach- 
ary Taylor at Fort Crawford (Prairie du Chien). Neither 
did Anderson come from Fort Snelling, but from Jefferson 
Barracks, at St. Louis. It is possible that Lieutenant 
Davis administered the oath of allegiance, but I am not 

1 Wis. Hist. Colls., xii, p. 234. 

-Jefferson Davis — a Memoir (N. Y., 1890), i, p. 182. 

3 Memoir of Lt. Gen. Scott (N. Y., 1864), i, p. 219; Mansfield's Gen. 
Winfield Scott (N. Y., 1858), p. 203; Western Annals (Cincinnati, 1846), 
p. 800; Hist, of Cook Co., III., p. 204. 



124 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

aware of any record of such an event. Indeed it is stated 
upon what is believed to be good authority, that Lincoln 
and his company were mustered into service by Colonel 
Taylor himself. 1 

At Rock Island, it was agreed between Generals Atkin- 
son and Whiteside, 2 that the latter should march up the 
easterly bank of Rock River to the Prophetstown, an In- 
dian village on the east bank of that river, and there rest 
his army and await the arrival of Atkinson's command 
in boats. Whiteside proceeded on his march, but only 
halted at Prophetstown long enough to destroy the village, 
then proceeded up the river about forty miles, to Dixon's 
ferry, where Dixon now stands, reaching there May 12. 3 
At Dixon's, Whiteside found two battalions of mounted 
men, under the command of Majors Isaiah Stillman and 
David Bailey. 1 

Meanwhile, Black Hawk had preceded Whiteside up the 
easterly bank of the Rock, and at the time of the arrival 
of the latter at Dixon's was at or near Sycamore Creek. 
It was the purpose of Whiteside to await at Dixon's the 
arrival of Atkinson. But Stillman's men became impatient, 
and desired to march farther north, and ascertain the where- 
abouts of the fugitive Indians. This the general permitted 
them to do. 5 May 12, Stillman commenced his march 
northerly, still along the easterly bank of the Rock. fi On 
the afternoon of the 14th, he went into camp at Sycamore 
Creek, now known as Stillman's Run, in Ogle county, and 
about eight miles from Black Hawk's camp. 7 

1 Legend attached to portrait of Col. Zachary Taylor, in rooms of Chi- 
cago Historical Society. 

2 Ford, p. 117; Duis, Good Old Times in McLean Co.,' III. (Bloom- 
ington, 1874), p. 101. 

3 Tarbell, p. 141; Wakefield, p. 16. 

4 Ford, p. 117. 

b lbid, p. 117; Wis. Hist. Colls., xii, p. 235. 

• Ford, p. 118; Drake's Great Indian Chief of the West (Cincinnati, 
1854), p. 147. 

1 Brown's History of Illinois (N. Y., 1844), p. 361; Tarbell, p. 142; Wis. 
Hist. Colls., xii, p. 235. 



1832.] LINCOLN IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 1 25 

Black Hawk says that when he learned that these white 
soldiers were near him, he sent three of his young men with 
a white flag to conduct them to his camp, that he might 
hold a council with them, and with them descend Rock 
River again, and return to the west side of the Mississippi. 
He also sent five others to see what might take place. 1 
The three Indians with the flag entered Stillman's camp, 
and were taken prisoners; the other five, when seen by 
Stillmen's men, were pursued without orders or officers. 
When Black Hawk found that his men were being chased 
by the whites, he formed an ambush, and upon the approach 
of the latter attacked them so vigorously that they turned 
and fled. 2 Eleven of Stillman's men were killed. The 
regiment to which Lincoln's company belonged, was mean- 
while at Dixon's Ferry. The next day, Whiteside's force — 
among them, Lincoln's company — marched to the scene 
of this disaster and buried the dead. 3 

Later, when Lincoln was in congress, he gave a humorous 
account of his part in this affair. 4 Lewis Cass was a can- 
didate for the presidency, and his war record was referred 
to, showing his eminent services to the country, where- 
upon Lincoln made the following reference to his own mili- 
tary career: "By the way, Mr. Speaker, did you know I 
am a military hero? Yes, sir, in the days of the Black 
Hawk War, I fought, bled, and came away. Speaking of 
General Cass's career, reminds me of my own. I was not 
at Stillman's defeat, but I was about as near it as Cass to 
Hull's surrender; and like him, I saw the place very soon 
afterward. It is quite certain I did not break my sword, 
for 1 had none to break; but I bent a rnnsket pretty badly, 
on one occasion. If Cass broke his sword, the idea is, he 
broke it in desperation ; I bent the musket by accident. If 



1 Black Hawk' s Autobiog., p. 96; Moses's Illinois (Chicago, 1889), 
p. 367. 

2 Black Hawk's Autobiog., p. 96; Tarbell, p. 142; Ford, p. 118; Wis. 
Hist. Colls., vii, p. 320; Brown, pp. 361, 362; Lamon, p. 105; Duis, p. 101. 

3 Lamon, p. 106. 

4 Arnold, p. 37. 



126 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

General Cass went in advance of me, in picking whortle- 
berries, I guess I surpassed him in charges upon the wild 
onions. If he saw any live, fighting Indians, it was more 
than I did, — but I had a good many bloody struggles with 
the musquitoes*; and although I never fainted from loss of 
blood, I can truly say I was often very hungry. 

" Mr. Speaker, if I should ever conclude to doff whatever 
our Democratic friends may suppose there is of black-cock- 
ade Federalism about me, and, thereupon, they should take 
me up as their candidate for the presidency, I protest they 
shall not make fun of me as they have of General Cass, by 
attempting to write me into a military hero. " 

The time for which the volunteers enlisted having nearly 
expired, they now became clamorous for their discharge. 
Whiteside marched them back to Ottawa, in La Salle county, 
where they were discharged from service; on May 28, Lin- 
coln's company was mustered out, and his office of captain 
terminated. 

Lincoln was evidently a good soldier. It is said of him, 
that he was always ready for an emergency; that he com- 
placently endured hardships; that he never complained, 
nor did he fear danger. When fighting was expected, or 
danger apprehended, he was the first to say, " Let's go;" ' 
that he had the confidence of every man of his company, 
and that they strictly obeyed his orders. 2 

Prior to the discharge of the volunteers commanded by 
Whiteside, Governor Reynolds had issued another call for 
2,000 volunteers. 3 He also made a personal appeal to the 
volunteers who were mustered out on the 28th, to re-enlist 
and serve for twenty days more, until the new regiments 
were formed. 4 In response to this appeal, Lincoln again 
enlisted, and on May 29 was, this time by Lieut. Robert 
Anderson, mustered into a company of mounted independ- 

1 Ford, pp. 123, 124; Lamon, p. 113; Moses, p. 369. 

2 Lamon, p. 112. 

8 Smith's Hist, of Wis., iii, p. 175; Wis. Hist. Colls., vii, p. 324. 
Ford, p. 124; Lamon, p. 113; Armstrong, pp. 676, 677. 



1832.] LINCOLN IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 12J 

ent rangers, under Capt. Elijah lies. 1 Lincoln furnished 
his arms and horse; the former were valued at $40, and the 
horse and equipments at $120. 2 

Iles's company of rangers was held by General Atkinson 
in reserve for special duty. A few days after being mus- 
tered in, they were sent by the general to open communica- 
tion with Galena, and to ascertain the whereabouts of the 
Indians." Before setting out on this expedition, they re- 
ported to Colonel Taylor, at Dixon's Perry. The company 
marched to Galena and ascertained the condition of the 
settlements, then returned to Atkinson's camp at Ottawa. 4 
The term of their enlistment having expired, they were, on 
June 16, mustered out by Lieutenant Anderson. 5 

On the same day, Lincoln again enlisted, this time as a 
private in an independent company, under Capt. Jacob M. 
Early, and was again mustered in by Lieutenant Anderson. 
Once more he furnished his arms and horse, the former 
being valued at $15, but the horse and equipments at only 
$85.° After Fort Sumter was evacuated, Anderson, then a 
major, went to Washington and called upon President Lin- 
coln. The latter said to him, " Major, do you remember 
ever meeting me before? " The major replied, " No, Mr. 
President, I have no recollection of ever having had the 
pleasure before. " " My memory is better than yours, " re- 
sponded the president, " You mustered me into the service 
of the United States in 1832, at Dixon's Ferry, in the Black 
Hawk War. " 7 

Atkinson's army was now divided into three brigades, 
under Generals James D. Henry, M. K. Alexander, and 
Alexander Posey. Henry's brigade (organized June 20) 
formed the right wing, Alexander's (organized June 16) 

1 Latnon, p. 113; Wis. Hist. Colls., x, p. 176; Moses, p. 370. 

2 Wis. Hist. Colls., x, p. 176. 

3 Tarbell, pp. 147-152. 

4 Ibid., pp. 148, 152. 

b Wis. Hist. Colls., x, p. 176; Armstrong, p. 691 
6 Wis. Hist. Colls., x, p. 176. 
'Arnold, p. 36. 



128 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

the center, and Posey's (organized June 12) the left wing. 
June 25, the brigades of Alexander and Henry reached 
Dixon's. 1 

On the 22nd, Captain Early was ordered by Atkinson to 
proceed to Dixon's with his company of spies, and report 
to Gen. Hugh Brady, of the United States army, who 
was then in command of the regulars. 2 Brady being after- 
wards taken ill, was obliged to turn over his command to 
Atkinson. 3 On the 25th, a battle occurred at Kellogg's 
Grove, 4 a few miles north of Dixon's Ferry, between a 
small force under Major Dement, and a party of Sacs, in 
which five whites and nine Indians were killed. Dement 
having called for assistance, Early's company marched all 
night and reached the scene of the conflict at sunrise the 
next morning. 5 , The Indians had fled before the arrival of 
these reinforcements. It is probable that Early's com- 
pany promptly returned to Dixon's Ferry. 6 

On the 27th, Henry's brigade and the regulars, under 
Zachary Taylor, 7 accompanied by Atkinson, resumed their 
line of march up the east bank of the Rock. Early's com- 
pany of rangers, in which Lincoln was a private, was with 
Henry. On June 30, 8 this force crossed the Territorial line 
into what is now Wisconsin, at Turtle Village (of Winne- 
bagoes), where Beloit now stands, and camped on the bank 

1 Strong's History of Wisconsin Territory (Madison, 1885), pp. 145, 
217, 218. 

2 Records of War Dept.; Brown, p. 367. 

3 Blanchard's Discovery and Conquest of the Northwest (Wheaton, 
111., 1879), p. 384. 

• "Ford, p. 129; Smith, i, p. 170; Tarbell, p. 154; Wis. Hist Colls., xii, 
p. 243; Brown, p. 367; Barrett's Abraham Lincoln (Cincinnati and N. Y., 
1865), p. 43. 

6 Lamon, p. 178. This author mistakes Gratiot's Grove for Kellogg's 
Grove. 

"Brown, p. 367. 

'Wis. Hist. Colls., xii, p. 246. 

8 Wakefield, p. 4; C. Buckley, in Beloit Free Press, Oct. 15, 1891, and 
Jan. 21, 1892; Barrett, p. 43; Wis. Hist. Colls., xii, p. 246; Ford, p. 131; 
Moses, p. 372. 



1832.] LINCOLN IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 1 29 

of the river about a mile above the village. At this time, 
however, the village had been abandoned. 1 

On July 1, the army continued its march up Rock River. 2 
After they had proceeded two or three miles, they saw on 
the high ground on the west side of the river, an Indian, 
who was probably a spy. 3 This high ground was undoubt- 
edly the bluff on the west side of the river, north of Beloit. 
Wakefield, who was with the army, says that they had pro- 
ceeded a few miles farther, when they came to the place where 
the Indians who had taken the two Hall girls prisoners, had 
stayed several days; and that it was a strong position, where 
the captors could have withstood a powerful force. This was, 
undoubtedly, what is now called Black Hawk's Grove, 
on the lands of Levi St. John and J. P. Wheeler. This 
statement of Wakefield's, to some extent corroborates a like 
statement in the History of Rock County, by Guernsey and 
Willard, published in 1856. 4 It is also stated in this 
history that the Hall girls were with the Indians, and were 
here ransomed. 5 Lincoln was, therefore, here with his 
company, under General Henry, on July 1, 1832. 

When the first agricultural settlers came into Rock 
county, the tent poles and remains of the Indian camp fires 
were still to be found in Black Hawk's Grove, 6 and are re- 
membered by some of these settlers, who are still with us. 
They indicated a more permanent camp than that of a re- 
treating Indian force. 

When Black Hawk was in Illinois and in the mining 
country, he did not have with him his old men and women 
and children. They were, however, in his company at the 
Battle of the Bad Ax. 7 They had joined him at some point 

1 Guernsey and Willard's History of Rock County, Wis. (Janesville, 
1856), p. 20. 
2 Ford, p. 13L. 

3 Wakefield, p. 42. 

4 Guernsey and Willard, p. 19. 
>Ibid. 

8 Ibid. 

7 Black Hawk's Autobiog., p. 107. 
9 



130 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

after he left Illinois. It is therefore probable that Black 
Hawk's Grove was the headquarters of his band, from 
which raids were made in different directions. 

Wakefield further says : " We had not marched but a few 
miles from the place before one of our forward scouts came 
back, meeting the army in great haste and stated that they 
had discovered a fresh trail of Indians, where they had just 
went along in front of us. Major Ewing, who was in front 
of the main army some distance, immediately formed his 
men in line of battle and marched in that order in advance 
of the main army about three-quarters of a mile. We had 
a thick wood to march through, where the undergrowth 
stood very high and thick. We marched in abreast in this 
order about two miles, not stopping for the unevenness of 
the ground, or anything else — but keeping in line of bat- 
tle all the time, until we found the Indians had scattered, 
then we resumed our common line of march, which was 
in three divisions. " ] 

The thick woods referred to by Wakefield, were un- 
doubtedly the heavy timber lying between Janesville and 
Milton, along the Milton road. As Early's company of 
rangers, of which Lincoln was a member, was mounted, it 
was undoubtedly scouting in advance of the army, on this 
march through Janesville. 

On the evening of July 1, Atkinson's force, or one di- 
vision of it, camped at or near Storrs Lake, but a short dis- 
tance east of the village of Milton.-' The following morn- 
ing, the army proceeded almost directly north, to nearly 
the north line of Rock county, where they changed to a 
northwesterly course, leading to Lake Koshkonong. After 
marching a few miles, they struck the main trail of 
Black Hawk's force, which appeared to be about two days'" 
old. Early's rangers were still in advance of the column. 
The forces were halted, and Major Ewing, Major Anderson, 
and Captain Early went forward to reconnoitre. Ander- 

1 Wakefield, p. 42. 
- Ibid, p. 43. 



1832.] LINCOLN IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR. I3I 

son, with his telescope, could see across Lake Koshkonong. 
I have found no record of the army on July 3. It is alleged 
that it camped on the north side of Otter Creek, in section 
3, in the town of Milton, about two miles from Lake Kosh- 
konong. In 1840, the late Isaac T. Smith located a portion 
of section 10, adjoining section 3; he made a claim to the 
land March J, 1837, before it was in market. At that 
time, posts set in the ground, where beeves were hauled up 
to be dressed, were still standing on the south side of Ot- 
ter Creek, also in section 3. 1 

While at this camp, the scouts captured and brought in 
an old blind Sac Indian. 2 When the army marched, they 
left the Indian some food and a barrel of water; but when 
the forces of either Posey or Alexander arrived, the poor 
fellow was shot by their scouts, thus being the only Indian 
known to have been killed in Rock county. 

On the evening of July 3, Alexander arrived with his 
men. He had been sent to Plum River, on the Mississippi, 
to prevent the escape of the enemy in that direction. 
July 4, Major Ewing, with his spy battalion, and Colonel 
Collins and Col. Gabriel Jones were directed to follow 
the trail up the Rock. Finding that it continued up stream, 
they returned to camp late in the evening. July 6, Atkin- 
son marched to Burnt Village, at the junction of White- 
water Creek with Bark River. 3 That night, Posey's bri- 
gade and Col. Henry Dodge's regiment arrived at the mouth 
of the Whitewater. 4 Captain Early also returned from 
a scout, and reported finding a fresh trail, three miles be- 
yond, but this proved to be a mistake. The following day, 
Atkinson marched several miles up the Rock, and on the 8th 
returned to the mouth of the Whitewater. Winnebago 
Indians now reported Black Hawk on the island in Lake 
Koshkonong, now called Black Hawk's Island. On the 

1 MS. memoir of Isaac T. Smith. 

2 Ford, p. 131. 

3 Wakefield, p. 45; Moses, p. 373; Brown, p. 368. 

4 Ford, p. 132. 



132 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECflONS. [vol.xiv. 

9th, Early's company crossed to the island on rafts, but no 
Indians were found there. 1 

I have been thus particular in tracing Captain Early's 
company, for the purpose of showing that Lincoln was 
with the right wing of Atkinson's army, and marched up 
the Rock, through Beloit and Janesville, and that he was 
neither with the left wing of the army under Posey, nor 
with the center under Alexander. Early's rangers were 
with Atkinson, scouting on July 2, while Alexander did not 
join Atkinson until the evening of July 3, and Posey did 
not come up until the evening of July 6. 

By July 10, the provisions of the army were exhausted, and 
the soldiers were suffering. Henry and Alexander were 
sent to Fort Winnebago for supplies; Posey was ordered 
to Fort Hamilton; Taylor, with the regulars, went to Prai- 
rie du Chien; Emery's regiment returned to Dixon's with 
Capt. Charles Dunn, who had been seriously wounded 
at Burnt Village; while Early's rangers were mustered out, 
and discharged from the service. 2 

Lincoln was mustered out July 10. 3 The next day he 
started with his fellows, for his home in Illinois. That 
night, his horse and that of a comrade were stolen, and 
they were obliged to walk, except when other more fortu- 
nate members of the company permitted them to ride while 
they walked. The two horseless rangers went from the 
mouth of the Whitewater to Peoria, and then down Illi- 
nois River in a boat. 4 As Peoria lies a little west of south 
of Janesville, they must have passed through Rock county. 
It is highly probable that they returned over the trail, 
through Black Hawk's Grove, over which they had marched 
only a few days before. 

There was issued to Lincoln, as a soldier in the Black 
Hawk War, on April 16, 1852, under the act of congress of 
1850, a land-warrant for 40 acres, which was located by 



1 Ford, pp. 132-134. 

2 Wakefield, p. 45. 

3 Tarbell, p. 155; Lamon, p. 118. 
4 Ibid, p. 118. 



1832.] LINCOLN IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 133 

him in Iowa. Another warrant for 120 acres was issued 
to him on April 22, 1856, under the act of 1855; this he lo- 
cated in Illinois. 1 *_ 

While Lincoln's service in the Black Hawk War was 
brief, it must have made him familiar with the method of 
equipping and handling soldiers, and have given him 
knowledge that in after years was of great advantage to him. 
He demonstrated during the War of Secession that he pos- 
sessed high military capacity. As a strategist, he was the 
equal of the best, and the superior of most of his generals. I 

It is of interest to recall the names of those connected 
with the Black Hawk War who were or became distin- 
guished in the history of the Northwest, and most of whom 
were with General Atkinson as he marched through Rock 
county. Among these, were Col. Zachary Taylor, who won 
renown in the Mexican War, and afterwards became presi- 
dent; Abraham Lincoln, who also became president; Jeffer- 
son Davis, later the president of the Confederate States; 
Robert Anderson, who commanded Port Sumter at the 
beginning of the War of Secession, and later became a 
major general; Albert Sidney Johnston, who became a gen- 
eral in the Confederate army, and commanded the Southern 
forces at the battle of Shiloh, where he was killed by the 
fire of an Illinois regiment ; Gen. Henry Dodge, who was twice 
appointed governor of Wisconsin Territory, twice elected 
delegate of the Territory in congress, and twice elected to 
the United States Senate; W. S. Harney, in later years a 
general in the United States army ; Col. William S. Hamil- 
ton, son of Alexander Hamilton; Col. Nathan Boone, a son of 
Daniel Boone, of Kentucky; Maj. Sidney Breese, later chief 
justice of the supreme court of Illinois; Capt. Charles 
Dunn, who became a member of the Wisconsin supreme 
court; Capt. John H. Roundtree, who for many years was 
a member of the State senate ; John Reynolds, governor of 
Illinois; O. H. Browning, afterwards a United States sen- 
ator from Illinois, and secretary of the interior; John J. 
Hardin, who as a general was killed at the battle of Buena 

1 Herndon, p. 101. 



134 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. XIV. 

Vista, Mexico; E. D. Baker, who became a senator and a 
general, and was killed at Ball's Bluff, in the War of Seces- 
sion, — and many others. 

Abraham Lincoln was again in Rock county, in 1859. An 
invitation had been extended to him to deliver the annual 
address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, 
at its fair held that year in Milwaukee. He delivered 
his address on Friday, September 30. Upon his return 
from Milwaukee, the following day, he accepted an invita- 
tion by the Republican club of Beloit to deliver an address 
in that city. He was met at the railway station by the 
members of the club, a band of music, and a large number 
of the citizens of Beloit, and escorted in a carriage to the 
Bushnell House (now the Goodwin House), where he took 
dinner. At two o'clock he was escorted to Hanchett's 
Hall, at the corner of Broad and State streets, where he 
was introduced to a large and enthusiastic audience by 
John Bannister, the president of the Republican club, and 
presented a most conclusive vindication of the principles 
of the Republican party. His address was a review of 
the then somewhat famous article, " Popular Sovereignty 
in the Territories," contributed by Stephen A. Douglas to 
Harper's Monthly, for the preceding month of September. 1 
The meeting closed with three hearty cheers for the speaker. 

At that time, I was secretary of the Republican club of 
Janesville. Learning, on the morning of Saturday, that 
Lincoln was to deliver an address in Beloit in the after- 
noon of that day, — I had heard the debate between Lincoln 
and Douglas, at Freeport, in August, 1858, — it seemed to 
me very desirable that Mr. Lincoln address the Republi- 
cans of Janesville. I was at that .time living with my part- 
ner, James H. Knowlton. Both Mr. and Mrs. Knowlton 
were out of the city; not wishing, therefore, to take Mr. 
Lincoln to the home of Judge Knowlton in the latter 's ab- 
sence, I asked William M. Tallman if he would entertain 
the speaker while in our city, which he assured me he would 

1 Harper's Monthly, vol. xix, p. 519. 



1832.] LINCOLN IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 1 35 

be pleased to do. I then asked him to accompany me to 
Beloit, to invite the speaker. I took Judge Knowlton's car- 
riage and driver, and with Mr. Tallman started for Beloit. 
On Main street, near Milwaukee street, we met Daniel Wil- 
cox, one of the publishers of the Gazette, and I requested him 
also to accompany us to Beloit, which he did. "When we 
reached Hanchett's Hall, Lincoln had commenced his ad- 
dress. At its close, we introduced ourselves to him, and 
extended to him an invitation to return with us to Janes- 
ville and address our people that evening. This be con- 
sented to do, and we immediately returned to Janesville, 
reaching there before dusk. Finding James H. Burgess at 
Beloit, he accepted our invitation to ride back to Janes- 
ville with us. 

While returning from Beloit to Janesville, we came up 
what is known as the prairie, or town- line road. This runs 
near the trail followed by Black Hawk and Atkinson's 
army. While coming over the prairie between Beloit and 
Janesville, Lincoln recognized the route over which he 
had marched twenty-seven years before, and freely talked 
with us about it. 

On reaching Janesville, the news that Lincoln had ar- 
rived and would address the people that evening, spread 
rapidly through the city, and a large audience gathered in 
what was then known as Young America Hall, in the Myers 
building. He was introduced to the audience by Dr. R. B. 
Treat, president of the Republican club, and spoke entirely 
and with great effect, upon the political topics of the day. 

Mr. Lincoln remained with the Tallmans until Monday 
morning. On Sunday, he attended the Congregational 
Church with the Tallman family, and on Monday morning 
left Janesville for his home in Illinois. He was never in 
Wisconsin again. 

I have made out the probable itinerary of Abraham 
Lincoln in the Black Hawk War (1832), as follows : 

April 21st, enlisted at Beardstown, 111. ; 22nd to 26th, at 
Beardstown, 111. ; 27th, commenced the march to the mouth 



I36 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

of the Rock River ; April 27th to May 3rd, on the march from 
Beardstown to Yellow Banks; 3rd to 7th, marched from 
Yellow Banks to Fort Armstrong, at the mouth of Rock 
River; 8th, at Fort Armstrong; 9th, commenced the march 
to Dixon's,by way of the Prophetstown; 10th and 11th, on the 
march from Fort Armstrong to Dixon's; 12th to 14th, at Dix- 
on's, mustered into service ; 15th, marched to Stillman 's Run ; 
16th, returned to Dixon's; 19th, marched north from Dixon's; 
20th to 22nd, north of Stillman's Run, searched for Black 
Hawk; 23rd to 26th, marched to Ottawa; 27th, mustered out 
at Ottawa, and re-enlisted in company of Capt. Elijah lies; 
29th, at Ottawa, mustered into Capt. Iles's company; May 
29th to June 15th, in camp with General Atkinson at Ottawa, 
and on march to Galena and return; 16th, at Ottawa, 
mustered out by Robert Anderson; 16th to 20th, at Ottawa, 
enlisted in the company of Capt. Jacob M. Early; 20th, 
mustered in; 21st, at Ottawa; 22nd, at Ottawa, ordered by 
Atkinson to march to Dixon's and report to General Brady; 
23rd and 24th, at Dixon's, and scouting in that vicinity; 
25th, marched to Kellogg's Grove; 26th, returned from 
Kellogg's Grove to Dixon's; 27th, marched north on the 
easterly side of Rock River, with Henry's brigade; 28th 
and 29th, on the march; 30th, reached Turtle Village, where 
Beloit now stands; July 1st, marched up Rock River to 
Black Hawk's Grove, at Janesville, and to Storrs Lake, 
at Milton; 2nd, marched from Milton north, towards Lake 
Koshkonong, camped on Otter Creek, and scouted in ad- 
vance of the army ; 3rd, scouted near Lake Koshkonong ; 
4th, followed Indian trail north of Lake Koshkonong; 5th 
and 6th, scouted in vicinity of Lake Koshkonong, and 
marched to Burnt Village, at junction of Whitewater Creek 
with Bark River; 7th, marched north of Lake Koshkonong; 
8th, returned to Burnt Village; 9th, crossed to Black 
Hawk's Island, in Lake Koshkonong, scouting; 10th, mus- 
tered out of service, at Burnt Village; 11th, left Burnt Vil- 
lage for home, by way of Peoria. 



I837-] CAPT. MARRYAT IN WISCONSIN. 137 



AN ENGLISH OFFICER'S DESCRIPTION OF WISCONSIN 

IN 1837. 



BY FREDERICK MARRYAT, C. B.' 

We stopped half an hour at Mackinaw to take in wood 
and then started for Green Bay, in the Wisconsin territory. 
Green Bay is a military station; it is a pretty little place, 
with soil as rich as garden mould. The Fox river de- 
bouches here, but the navigation is checked a few miles 
above the town by the rapids, which have been dammed 
up into a water-power; yet there is no doubt that as soon 
as the whole of the Wisconsin lands are offered for sale by 
the American Government, the river will be made navi- 
gable up to its meeting with the Wisconsin which falls into 
the Mississippi. There is only a portage of a mile and a 

1 The popular writer who is known as "Captain Marryat," wherever 
English books are read, visited the United States and Canada in 1837-38, 
and as the result of his travels wrote a work in two volumes, entitled A 
Diary in America, with Remarks on its Institutions (Philadelphia: 
Cary & Hart, 1839); contemporaneously, he published in London a work 
with a similar title, in three volumes, devoted entirely to comments on 
American institutions. In volume i. of the Diary proper, pp. 185-205, the 
captain gives the description of Wisconsin Territory in 1837, which is pre- 
sented below. He had been traveling through Canada, and at Windsor 
embarked for Green Bay on the " Michigan, one of the best vessels on Lake 
Erie; as usual, full of emigrants, chiefly Irish." After leaving Wisconsin, 
he went up the Mississippi River in a steamboat, to St. Paul, then de- 
scended the Mississippi to St. Louis, with a side-trip to the lead-mines in 
the Galena district, and later leisurely proceeded up the Ohio by relays, in 
steamboats, thence returning to the cities of the Atlantic coast. Marryat 
had been a captain in the British navy, but resigned in 1830. At the time 
of his American visit he was in the full tide of his literary popularity, 
having published Snarleyyow in 1837, previous to leaving home. —Ed. 



138 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. XIV. 

half between the two, through which a canal will be cut, 1 
and then there will be another junction between the lakes 
and the Par West. It was my original intention to have 
taken the usual route by Chicago and Galena to St. Louis, 
but I fell in with Major F , with whom I had been pre- 
viously acquainted, who informed me that he was about to 
send a detachment of troops from Green Bay to Port Win- 
nebago, across the Wisconsin territory. As this afforded 
me an opportunity of seeing the country, which seldom oc- 
curs, I availed myself of an opportunity to join the party. 
The detachment consisted of about one hundred recruits, 
nearly the whole of them Canada patriots, as they are 
usually called, who, having failed in taking the provinces 
from John Bull, were fain to accept the shilling - from 
Uncle Sam. 

Major F accompanied us to pay the troops at the 

fort, and we therefore had five waggons with us, loaded 
with a considerable quantity of bread and pork, and not 
quite so large a proportion of specie, the latter not having 
as yet become plentiful again in the United States. We set 
off, and marched fifteen miles in about half a day passing 
through the settlement Des Peres, which is situated at the 
rapids of the Fox river. Formerly they were called the 
Rapids des Peres, from a Jesuit college 3 which had been 
established there by the French. Our course lay along the 
banks of the Fox river, a beautiful swift stream pouring 
down between high ridges, covered with fine oak timber. 

The American Government have disposed of all the land 
on the banks of this river and the lake Winnebago, and 
consequently it is well settled; but the Winnebago territory 
in Wisconsin, lately purchased of the Winnebago Indians, 
and comprising all the prairie land and rich mineral coun- 
try from Galena to Mineral Point is not yet offered for sale ; 
when it is, it will be eagerly purchased; and the American 

1 See map, ante, p. 96. 

2 An English military phrase, signifying enlistment.— Ed. 

3 The mission of St. Francis Xavier, established by Father Claude Allouez 
in 1671 .—Ed. 



1 837-] CAPT. MARRYAT IN WISCONSIN. 1 39 

Government, as it only paid the Indians at the rate of one 
cent and a fraction per acre, will make an enormous profit 
by the speculation. Well may the Indians be said, like 
Esau, to part with their birthright for a mess of pottage; 
but, in truth, they are compelled to sell — the purchase- 
money being a mere subterfuge, by which it may appear as 
if their lands were not wrested from them, although, in 
fact, it is. 

On the second day we continued our march along the 
banks of the Fox river, which, as we advanced, continued 
to be well settled, and would have been more so, if some of 
the best land had not fallen, as usual, into the hands of 
speculators, who aware of its value, hold out that they may 
obtain a high price for it. The country through which we 
passed was undulating, consisting of a succession of ridges, 
covered with oaks of a large size, but not growing close as 
in forests; you could gallop your horse through any part 
of it. The tracks of deer were frequent, but we saw but 
one herd of fifteen, and that was at a distance. We now 
left the banks of the river, and cut across the country to 
Fond du Lac, at the bottom of Lake Winnebago, of which 
we had had already an occasional glimpse through the 
openings of the forest. The deer were too wild to allow of 
our getting near them ; so I was obliged to content myself 
with shooting wood pigeons, which were very plentiful. 

On the night of the third day we encamped upon a very 
high ridge, as usual studded with oak trees. The term 
used here to distinguish this variety of timber land from 
the impervious woods, is oak openings. I never saw a 
more beautiful view than that which was afforded us from 
our encampment. From the high ground upon which our 
tents were pitched, we looked down to the left, upon a 
prairie flat and level as a billiard table, extending, as far 
as the eye could scan, one rich surface of unrivalled green. 
To the right, the prairie gradually changed to oak open- 
ings, and then to a thick forest, the topmost boughs and 
heads of which were level with our tents. Beyond them 
was the whole broad expanse of the Winnebago lake, 



140 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

smooth and reflecting like a mirror the brilliant tints of 
the setting sun, which disappeared, leaving a portion of his 
glory behind him; while the moon in her ascent, with the 
dark portion of her disk as clearly defined as that which 
was lighted, gradually increased in brilliancy, and the stars 
twinkled in the clear sky. We watched the features of the 
landscape gradually fading from our sight, until nothing 
was left but broad masses partially lighted up by the young 
moon. 

Nor was the foreground less picturesque; the spreading 
oaks, the tents of the soldiers, the wagons drawn up with 
the horses tethered, all lighted up by the blaze of our large 
fires. Now when I say our large fires, I mean the large 
fires of America, consisting of three or four oak trees, 
containing a load of wood each, besides many large boughs 
and branches, altogether forming a fire some twenty or 
thirty feet long, with flames flickering up twice as high as 
one's head. At a certain distance from this blazing pile 
you may perceive what in another situation would be con- 
sidered as a large coffee-pot (before this huge fire it makes 
a very diminutive appearance). It is placed over some 
embers drawn out from the mass, which would soon have 
burnt up coffee-pot and coffee altogether; and at a still more 
respectful distance you may perceive small rods, not above 
four or five feet long, bifurcated at the smaller end, and 
fixed by the larger in the ground, so as to hang towards 
the huge fire, at an angle of forty degrees, like so many 
tiny fishing rods. These rods have at their bifurcated ends 
a piece of pork or ham, or of bread, or perhaps of venison, 
for we bought some, not having shot any; they are all pri- 
vate property, as each party cooks for himself. Seeing 
these rods at some distance, you might almost imagine 
that they were the fishing rods of little imps bobbing for 
salamanders in the fiery furnace. 

In the mean time, while the meat is cooking, and the 
coffee is boiling, the brandy and whisky are severely taxed, 
as we lie upon our cloaks and buffalo skins at the front of 
our tents. There certainly is a charm in this wild sort of 



1 837.] CAPT. MARRY AT IN WISCONSIN. I4I 

life, which, wins upon people the more they practice it; 
nor can it be wondered at; our wants are in reality so few 
and so easily satisfied, without the restraint of form and 
ceremony. How often, in my wanderings, have I felt the 
truth of Shakespeare's lines in "As You Like It." 

" Now, my co-mates and partners in exile, 
Hath not old custom made this life more sweet 
Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods 
More free from peril than the envious court? 
Here feel we but the penalty of Adam — 
The seasons' difference." 

On the fourth day we descended, crossed the wide prairie, 
and arrived at the Fond du Lac, where we again fell in with 
the Fox river, which runs through the Winnebago lake. 
The roads through the forests had been very bad, and the 
men and horse shewed signs of fatigue; but we had now 
passed through all the thickly wooded country, and had 
entered into the prairie country, extending to Fort Winne- 
bago, and which was beautiful beyond conception. Its feat- 
ures alone can be described; but its effects can only be felt 
by being seen. The prairies here are not very large, sel- 
dom being above six or seven miles in length or breadth; 
generally speaking, they lie in gentle undulating flats, and 
the ridges and hills between them are composed of oak 
openings. To form an idea of these oak openings, imagine 
an inland country covered with splendid trees, about as 
thickly planted as in our English parks ; in fact, it is Eng- 
lish park scenery, Nature ''having here spontaneously 
produced what it has been the care and labour of centuries 
in our own country to effect. Sometimes the prairie will 
rise and extend along the hills, and assume an undulating 
appearance, like the long swell of the ocean; it is then 
called rolling prairie. 

Often, when I looked down upon some fifteen or twenty 
thousand acres of these prairies, full of rich grass, with- 
out one animal, tame or wild, to be seen, I would fancy 
what thousands of cattle will, in a few years, be luxuriat- 
ing in those pastures, which, since the herds of buffalo 



142 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

have retreated from them, are now useless, and throwing 
up each year a fresh crop, to seed and to die unheeded. 

On our way we had fallen in with a young Frenchman, 
who had purchased some land at Pond du Lac, and was pro- 
ceeding there in company with an American, whom he had 
hired to settle on it. I now parted company with him ; he 
had gone out with me in my shooting excursions, and had 
talked of nothing but his purchase: it had water; it had a 
waterfall; it had, in fact, everything that he could desire; 
but he thought that after two years he would go home and 
get a wife; a Paradise without an Eve would be no Para- 
dise at all. 

The price of labour is, as may be supposed, very high 
in this part of the country. Hiring by the year, you find 
a man in food, board, and washing, and pay him three hun- 
dred dollars per annum (about £70 English). 

The last night that we bivouacked out was the only unfor- 
tunate one. We had been all comfortably settled for the 
night, and fast asleep, when a sudden storm came on, ac- 
companied with such torrents of rain as would have washed 
us out of our tents, if they had not been already blown 
down by the violence of the gale. Had we had any warn- 
ing, we should have provided against it ; as it was, we made 
up huge fires, which defied the rain ; and thus we remained 
till daylight, the rain pouring on us, while the heat of the 
fires drying us almost as fast as we got wet, each man 
threw up a column of steam from his still saturating and 
still heated garments. Every night we encamped where 
there was a run of water, and plenty of dead timber for 
our fire; and thus did we go on, emptying our waggons 
daily of the bread and pork, and filling up the vacancies 
left by the removal of the empty casks with the sick and 
lame, until at last we arrived at Port Winnebago. 

We had not to arrive at the fort to receive a welcome, 
for when we were still distant about seven miles, the offi- 
cers of the garrison, who had notice of our coming, made 
their appearance on horseback, bringing a handsome britch- 
ska and gray horses for our accommodation. Those who were 



I837-] CAPT. MARRYAT IN WISCONSIN. I43 

not on duty (and I was one) accepted the invitation, and 
we drove in upon a road which, indeed, for the last thirty 
miles had been as level as the best in England. The car- 
riage was followed by pointers, hounds, and a variety of 
dogs, who were off duty like ourselves, and who appeared 
quite as much delighted with their run as we were tired 
with ours. The medical officer attached to the fort, an 
old friend and correspondent of Mr. Lea of Philadelphia, 
received me with all kindness, and immediately installed 
me in one of the rooms in the hospital. 

Fort Winnebago is situated between the Fox and Wiscon- 
sin rivers at the Portage, the two rivers being about a 
mile and a half apart; the Fox river running east, and giv- 
ing its waters to Lake Michigan at Green Bay, while the 
Wisconsin turns to the west, and runs into the Mississippi 
at Prairie du Chien. The fort is merely a square of bar- 
racks, connected together with palisades, to protect it from 
the Indians; and it is hardly sufficiently strong for even 
that purpose. It is beautifully situated, and when the 
country fills up will become a place of importance. Most 
of the officers are married, and live a very quiet, and se- 
cluded, but not unpleasant life. I stayed there two days, 
much pleased with the society and the kindness shewn to 
me; but an opportunity of descending the Wisconsin to 
Prairie du Chien, in a keel-boat, having presented itself, 
I availed myself of an invitation to join the party, instead 
of proceeding by land to Galena, as had been my original 
intention. 

The boat had been towed up the Wisconsin with a cargo 
of flour for the garrison ; and a portion of the officers hav- 
ing been ordered down to Prairie du Chien, they had ob- 
tained this large boat to transport themselves, families, 
furniture, and horses, all at once, down to their destina- 
tion. The boat was about one hundred and twenty feet 
long, covered in to the height of six feet above the gunnel, 
and very much in appearance like the Noah's Ark given to 
children, excepting that the roof was flat. It was an un- 
wieldy craft, and to manage it, it required at least twenty- 



144 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

five men with poles and long sweeps; but the army gentle- 
men had decided that, as we were to go down with the 
stream, six men with short oars would be sufficient — a 
very great mistake. In every other respect she was badly 
found, as we term it at sea, having but one old piece of 
rope to hang on with, and one axe. Our freight consisted 
of furniture stowed forward and aft, with a horse and cow. 
In a cabin in the centre we had a lady and five children, 
one maid and two officers. Our crew was composed of 
six soldiers, a servant and a French halfbred to pilot us 
down the river. All Winnebago came out to see us start; 
and as soon as the rope was cast off, away we went 
down with the strong current, at the rate of five miles an 
hour. The river passed through forests of oak, the large 
limbs of which hung from fifteen to twenty feet over the 
banks on each side; sometimes whole trees lay prostrate in 
the stream, held by their roots still partially remaining in 
the ground, while their trunks and branches offering resist- 
ance to the swift current, created a succession of small masses 
of froth, which floated away on the dark green water. 

We had not proceeded far, before we found that it was 
impossible to manage such a large and cumbrous vessel 
with our few hands; we were almost at the mercy of the 
current, which appeared to increase in rapidity every min- 
ute; however, by exertion and good management, we con- 
trived to keep in the middle of the stream, until the wind 
sprung up and drove us on to the southern bank of the river, 
and then all was cracking and tearing away of the wood- 
work, breaking of limbs from the projecting trees, snap- 
ping, cracking, screaming, hallooing and confusion. As 
fast as we cleared ourselves of one tree, the current bore 
us down upon another; as soon as we were clear above 
water, we were foul and entangled below. It was a very 
pretty general average; but what was worse than all, a 
snag had intercepted and unshipped our rudder, and we 
were floating away from it, as it still remained fixed upon 
the sunken tree. We had no boat with us, not even a dug- 
out — (a canoe made out of the trunk of a tree,) — so one of 



I837-] CAPT. MARRYAT IN WISCONSIN. I45 

the men climbed on shore by the limbs of an oak, and went 
back to disengage it. He did so, but not being able to re- 
sist the force of the stream, down he and the rudder came 
together — his only chance of salvation being that of our 
catching him as he came past us. This we fortunately suc- 
ceeded in effecting; and then hanging on by our old piece 
of rope to the banks of the river after an hour's delay, we 
contrived to reship our rudder, and proceeded on our voy- 
age, which was a continuation of the same eventful history. 
Every half hour we found ourselves wedged in between 
the spreading limbs of the oaks, and were obliged to have 
recourse to the axe to clear ourselves ; and on every occa- 
sion we lost a further portion of the frame work of our boat, 
either from the roof, the sides, or by the tearing away of 
the stancheons themselves. 

A little before sunset, we were again swept on to the bank 
with such force as to draw the pintles of our rudder. This 
finished us for the day; before it could be replaced, it was 
time to make fast for the night; so there we lay, holding 
by our rotten piece of rope, which cracked and strained to 
such a degree, as inclined us to speculate upon where we 
might find ourselves in the morning. However, we could not 
help ourselves, so we landed, made a large fire, and cooked 
our victuals; not, however, venturing to wander away far, 
on account of the rattlesnakes, which here abounded. 
Perhaps there is no portion of America in which the rattle- 
snakes are so large and so numerous as in Wisconsin. 
There are two varieties; the black rattlesnake, that fre- 
quents marshy spots, and renders it rather dangerous to 
shoot snipes and ducks; and the yellow, which takes up 

its abode in the rocks and dry places. Dr. F ' told me 

he had killed inside of the fort Winnebago, one of the latter 
species, between seven and eight feet long. The rattle- 
snake, although its poison is so fatal, is in fact not a very 
dangerous animal, and people are seldom bitten by it. 
This arises from two causes: first, that it invariably gives 
you notice of its presence by its rattle; and secondly, that 

1 Dr. Lyman Foot, see ante, p. 77. 
IO 



I46 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. | vol. xiv- 

it always coils itself up like a watch-spring before it 
strikes, and then darts forward only about its own length. 
Where they are common, the people generally carry with 
them a vial of ammonia, which, if instantly applied to the 
bite, will at least prevent death. The copper-head is a snake 
of a much more dangerous nature, from its giving no warn- 
ing, and its poison being equally active. 

The river has been very appropriately named by the In- 
dians the " Stream of the Thousand Isles," as it is studded 
with them; indeed, every quarter of a mile you find one or 
two in its channel. The scenery is fine, as the river runs 
through high ridges, covered with oak to their summits;, 
sometimes these ridges are backed by higher cliffs and 
mountains, which half way up are of a verdant green, and 
above that present horizontal strata of calcareous rock of 
rich gray tints, having, at a distance, very much the ap- 
pearance of the dilapidated castles on the Rhine. 

The scenery, though not so grand as the high lands of 
the Hudson, is more diversified and beautiful. The river was 
very full, and the current occasionally so rapid as to leave 
the foam as it swept by any projecting point. We had, 
now that the river widened, sand banks to contend with, 
which required all the exertions of our insufficient crew. 

On the second morning, I was very much annoyed at our 
having left without providing ourselves with a boat, for at 
the gray of dawn, we discovered that some deer had taken 
the river close to us, and were in mid-stream. Had we 
had a boat, we might have procured a good supply of ven- 
ison. We cast off again and resumed our voyage; and 
without any serious accident we arrived at the shot-tower, 
where we remained for the night. Finding a shot-tower in 
such a lone wilderness as this gives you some idea of the 
enterprise of the Americans; but the Galena, or lead dis- 
trict, commences here, on the south bank of the Wiscon- 
sin. The smelting is carried on about twelve miles in- 
land, and the lead is brought here, made into shot, 1 and 

1 See Libby's " Chronicle of the Helena Shot Tower," Wis. Hist Colls. , 
xiii. — Ed. 



1 837.] CAPT. MARRYAT IN WISCONSIN. 147 

then sent down the river to the Mississippi, by which, and 
its tributary streams, it is supplied to all America, west of 
the Alleghanies. The people were all at work when we 
arrived. The general distress had even affected the de- 
mand for shot, which was now considerably reduced. 

On the third day we had the good fortune to have no 
wind, and consequently made rapid progress, without much 
further damage. We passed a small settlement called the 
English prairie — for the prairies were now occasionally 
mixed up with the mountain scenery. Here there was a 
smelting-house and a steam saw-mill. 

The diggings, as they term the places where the lead is 
found (for they do not mine, but dig down from the surface), 
were about sixteen miles distant. We continued our course 
for about twenty miles lower down, when we wound up 
our day's work by getting into a more serious fix among 
the trees, and eventually losing our only axe, which fell over- 
board into deep water. All Noah's Ark was in dismay, for 
we did not know what might happen, or what the next 
day might bring forth. Fortunately, it was not requisite 
to cut wood for firing. During the whole of this trip I 
was much amused with our pilot, who, fully aware of the 
dangers of the river, was also equally conscious that there 
were not sufficient means on board to avoid them; when, 
therefore, we were set upon a sand-bank, or pressed by the 
wind on the sunken trees, he always whistled ; that was all 
he could do, and in proportion as the danger became more 
imminent, so did he whistle the louder, until the affair was 
decided by a bump or a crash, and then he was silent. 

On the ensuing day we had nothing but misfortunes. We 
were continually twisted and twirled about, sometimes with 
our bows, sometimes with our stern foremost, and as often 
with our broadside to the stream. We were whirled against 
one bank, and, as soon as we were clear of that we were 
thrown upon the other. Having no axe to cut away, we were 
obliged to use our hands. Again our rudder was unshipped, 
and with great difficulty replaced. By this time we had 
lost nearly the half of the upper works of the boat, one 



148 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

portion after another having been torn off by the limbs of 
the trees as the impetuous current drove us along. To add 
to our difficulties, a strong wind rose against the current, 
and the boat became quite unmanageable. About noon, 
when we had gained only seven miles, the wind abated, 
and two Menonnomie Indians, in a dag-out, came alongside 
of us; and as it was doubtful whether we should arrive at 
the mouth of the river on that night, or be left upon a sand 
bank, I got into the canoe with them, to go down to the 
landing-place, and from thence to cross over to Prairie du 
Chien, to inform the officers of the garrison of our condi- 
tion, and obtain assistance. The canoe would exactly hold 
three, and no more; but we paddled swiftly down the stream, 
and we soon lost sight of the Noah's Ark. Independently 
of the canoe being so small, she had lost a large portion of 
her stem, so that at the least ripple of the water she took 
it in, and threatened us with a swim ; and she was so very 
narrow, that the least motion would have destroyed her 
equilibrium and upset her. One Indian sat in the bow, the 
other in the stern, whilst I was doubled up in the middle. 
We had given the Indians some bread and pork, and after 
paddling about half an hour, they stopped to eat. Now, 
the Indian at the bow had the pork, while the one on the 
stern had the bread; any attempt to move, so as to hand 
the eatables to each other, must have upset us ; so this was 
their plan of communication: — The one in the bow cut off a 
slice of pork, and putting it into the lid of a saucepan which 
he had with him, and floating it alongside of the canoe, 
gave it a sufficient momentum to make it swim to the stern, 
when the other took possession of it. He in the stern then 
cut off a piece of bread, and sent it back in return by the 
same conveyance. I had a flask of whiskey, but they would 
not trust that by the same perilous little conveyance ; so I 
had to lean forward very steadily, and hand it to the fore- 
most, and, when he returned it to me, to lean backwards 
to give it the other, with whom it remained till we 
landed, for I could not regain it. After about an hour's 
more paddling, we arrived safely at the landing-place. I 



s- n 




I ^37-J CAPT. MARRYAT IN WISCONSIN. 1 49 

had some trouble to get a horse, and was obliged to go out 
to the fields where the men were ploughing. In doing so, 
I passed two or three very large snakes. At last I was 
mounted somehow, but without stirrups, and set off for 
Prairie du Chien. After riding about four miles, I had 
passed the mountains, and I suddenly came upon the beauti- 
ful prairie (on which were feeding several herd of cattle and 
horses), with the fort in the distance, and the wide waters 
of the upper Mississippi flowing beyond it. I crossed the 
prairie, found my way into the fort, stated the situation of 
our party, and requested assistance. This was immediately 
despatched, but on their arrival at the landing-place, they 
found that the keel-boat had arrived at the ferry without 
further difficulty. Before sunset the carriages returned 
with the whole party, who were comfortably accommodated 
in the barracks — a sufficient number of men being left 
with the boat to bring it round to the Mississippi, a dis- 
tance of about twelve miles. 

Prairie du Chien is a beautiful meadow, about eight 
miles long by two broad, situated at the confluence of the 
Wisconsin and the Mississippi; it is backed with high bluffs, 
such as I have before described, verdant two-thirds of the 
way up, and crowned with rocky summits. The bluffs, as 
I must call them, for I know not what other name to give 
them, rise very abruptly, often in a sugar-loaf form, from 
the flat lands, and have a very striking appearance : as you 
look up to them, their peculiar formation and vivid green 
sides, contrasting with their blue and gray summits, give 
them the appearance of a succession of ramparts investing 
the prairie. The fort at the prairie, which is named Port 
Crawford, is, like most other American outposts, a mere 
enclosure, intended to repel the attacks of Indians; but it 
is large and commodious, and the quarters of the officers 
are excellent; it is, moreover, built of stone, which is not 
the case with Port Winnebago or Fort Howard at Green Bay . 
The Upper Mississippi is here a beautiful clear blue stream, 
intersected with verdant islands, and very different in appear- 
ance from the Lower Mississippi, after it has been joined 



150 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol.XlV. 

by the Missouri. The opposite shore is composed of high 
cliffs, covered with timber, which, not only in form, but in 
tint and colour, remind you very much of Glover's land- 
scapes of the mountainous parts of Scotland and Wales. 

I made one or two excursions to examine the ancient 
mounds which are scattered all over this district, and which 
have excited much speculation as to their origin; some 
supposing them to have been fortifications, others the burial 
places of the Indians. That they have latterly been used 
by the Indians as burial places, there is no doubt; but I 
suspect they were not originally raised for that purpose. 
A Mr. Taylor has written an article in one of the period- 
icals, 1 stating his opinion that they were the burial piaces 
of chiefs ; and to prove it, he asserts that some of them are 
thrown up in imitation of the figure of the animal which 
was the heraldic distinction of the chief whose remains 
they contain, such as the beaver, elk, &c. He has given 
drawings of some of them. That the Indians have their 
heraldic distinctions, their totems, as they call them, I know 
to be a fact; as I have seen the fur traders' books, con- 
taining the receipts of the chiefs, with their crests drawn 
by themselves, and very correctly too ; but it required more 
imagination than I possess, to make out the form of any 
animal in the mounds. I should rather suppose the mounds 
to be the remains of tenements, sometimes fortified, some- 
times not, which were formerly built of mud or earth, as 
is still the custom in the northern portion of the Sioux 
country. Desertion and time have crumbled them into 
these mounds, which are generally to be found in a com- 
manding situation or in a string as if constructed for mut- 
ual defence. On Rock River there is a long line of wall, 
now below the surface which extends for a considerable 
distance, and is supposed to be the remains of a city built 
by a former race, probably the Mexican, who long since 

1 Stephen Taylor's " Description of Ancient Remains, Ancient Mounds, 
and Embankments, principally in the counties of Grant, Iowa, and Rich- 
land, in Wisconsin Territory," in American Journal of Science and 
Arts, vol. xliv, pp. 21-40. 



I837-] CAPT. MARRYAT IN WISCONSIN. 151 

retreated before the northern races of Indians. I cannot 
recollect the name which has been given to it. 1 I had not 
time to visit this spot, but an officer showed me some pieces 
of what they called the brick which composes the wall. 
Brick it is not — no right angles have been discovered, so 
far as I could learn; it appears rather as if a wall had been 
raised of clay, and then exposed to the action of fire, as 
portions of it are strongly vitrified, and others are merely 
hard clay. But admitting my surmises to be correct, still 
there is evident proof that this country was formerly peo- 
pled by a nation whose habits were very different, and in 
all appearance more civilised than those of the races which 
were found here; and this is all that can be satisfactorily 
sustained. As, however 5 it is well substantiated that a race 
similar to the Mexican formerly existed on these prairie 
lands, the whole question may perhaps be solved by the 
following extract from Irving's Conquest of Florida. 

" The village of Onachili resembles most of the Indian 
villages of Florida. The natives always endeavoured to 
build upon high ground, or at least to erect the house of 
their cacique or chief upon an eminence. As the country 
was very level, and high places seldom to be found, they 
constructed artificial mounds of earth, capable of contain- 
ing from ten to twenty houses; there resided the chief, 
his family, and attendants. At the foot of the hill was a 
square, according to the size of the village, round which 
were the houses of 'the leaders and most distinguished in- 
habitants. " 

I consider the Wisconsin tertitory as the finest portion of 
North America, not only from its soil, but its climate. The 
air is pure, and the winters, although severe, are dry and 
bracing; very different from, and more healthy than those 
of the Eastern States. At Prairie du Chien every one dwelt 
upon the beauty of the winter, indeed they appeared to pre- 
fer it to the other seasons. The country is, as I have de- 
scribed it in my route from Green Bay, alternate prairie, 

1 Reference is here made to the prehistoric remains at Aztalan. — Ed. 



152 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

oak openings, and forest; and the same may be said of the 
other side of the Mississippi, now distinguished as the dis- 
trict of Ioway. Limestone quarries abound, indeed, the 
whole of this beautiful and fertile region appears as if na- 
ture had so arranged it that man should have all difficul- 
ties cleared from before him, and have little to do but 
to take possession and enjoy. There is no clearing of 
timber requisite; on the contrary, you have just as much 
as you can desire, whether for use or ornament. Prairies 
of fine rich grass, upon which cattle fatten in three or four 
months, lay spread in every direction. The soil is so fer- 
tile that you have but to turn it up to make it yield grain 
to any extent; and the climate is healthy, at the same time 
that there is more than sufficient sun in the summer and 
autumn to bring every crop to perfection. Land carriage 
is hardly required, from the numerous rivers and streams 
which pour their waters from every direction into the 
Upper Mississippi. Add to all this, that the Western lands 
possess an inexhaustible supply of minerals, only a few 
feet under the surface of their rich soil — a singular and 
wonderful provision, as, in general, where minerals are 
found below, the soil above is usually arid and ungrateful. 
The mineral country is to the south of the Wisconsin river — 
at least nothing has at present been discovered north of it; 
but the northern part is still in the possession of the Win- 
nebago Indians, who are waiting for the fulfilment of the 
treaty before they surrender it, and at present will permit 
no white settler to enter it. It is said that the other por- 
tions of the Wisconsin territory will come into the market 
this year; at present, with the exception of the Fox river 
and Winnebago Lake settlements, and that of Prairie du 
Chien, at the confluence of the two rivers Wisconsin and 
Mississippi, there is hardly a log-house in the whole dis- 
trict. The greatest annoyance at present in this western 
country is the quantity and variety of snakes; it is hardly 
safe to land upon some parts of the Wisconsin river banks, 
and they certainly offer a great impediment to the excur- 
sions of the geologist and botanist; you are obliged to look 



1 837.] CAl'T. MARRYAT IN WISCONSIN. 1 53 

right and left as you walk, and as for putting your hand 
into a hole, you would be almost certain to receive a very 
unwished-for and unpleasant shake to welcome you. 1 

* * ■* * * ~ * * 

Here, for the first time, I consider that I have seen the In- 
dians in their primitive state; for till now all that I had 
fallen in with have been debased by intercourse with the 
whites, and the use of spirituous liquors. The Winneba- 
goes at Prairie du Chien were almost always in a state 
of intoxication, as were the other tribes at Mackinaw, 
and on the Lakes. The Winnebagoes are considered the 
dirtiest race of Indians, and with the worst qualities: they 
were formerly designated by the French, Puans, a term 
sufficiently explanatory. When I was at Prairie du Chien, 
a circumstance which had occurred there in the previous 
winter was narrated to me. In many points of manners 
and customs, the red men have a strong analogy with the 
Jewish tribes; among others an eye for an eye, and a tooth 
for a tooth, is most strictly adhered to. If an Indian of 
one tribe is killed by an Indian of another, the murderer is 
demanded, and must either be given up, or his life must be 
taken by his own tribe; if not, a feud between the two 
nations would be the inevitable result. It appeared that 
a young Menonnomie, in a drunken fray, had killed a Win- 
nebago, and the culprit was demanded by the head men of 
the Winnebago tribe. A council was held; and instead of 
the Menonnomie, the chiefs of the tribe offered them whis- 
key. The Winnebagoes could not resist the temptation; 
and it was agreed that ten gallons of whiskey should be 

'Here, the author discourses upon the "squatting" customs, with 
especial reference to the Galena region. He goes on to say that he "remained 
a week at Prairie du Chien, and left my kind entertainers with regret; but 
an opportunity offering of going up to St. Peters [St. Paul] in a steam-boat, 
with General Atkinson, who was on a tour of inspection, 1 could not neglect 
so favorable a chance." He visited Fort Snelling, and describes the Falls 
of St. Anthony, and then discusses the Sioux Indians thereabout. At 
this point, we renew our extract from the Diary. — Ed. 



154 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [vol. xiv. 

produced by the Menonnomies, to be drunk by all parties 
over the grave of the deceased. The squaws of the Menon- 
nomie tribe had to dig the grave, as is the custom, — a task 
of no little labour, as the ground was frozen hard several 
feet below the surface. 





























































































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